Neighbours should look at Delhi as well-wisher

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Ahead of next month’s Saarc summit, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday said his country desires to see its neighbours feel secure and confident that in New Delhi “they have a wellwisher”.
“We see their prosperity as a guarantee of ours. We see their progress as reinforcing ours. And so must they,” he said speaking at the India Today Conclave.

Singh said, the destiny of people of South Asia is interlinked and inter-dependent. “Our region must and can move forward through such a cooperative engagement,” he said.

Noting that India would be hosting the Saarc summit within a fortnight, the prime minister said, “We must make better use of the opportunities the world offers us.

We must be more open to our own neighbourhood.”

Besides, he saw a similar mutually beneficial inter-dependence between India and the wider neighbourhood of the Indian Ocean and the Asia-Pacific regions.

“For centuries our forefathers sailed westwards and eastwards — as teachers and traders, as merchants and monks. That is how we should once again approach the world,” he said.

The prime minister told the Conclave on “Challenges for the Brave New World: Can India take the lead” that he believed that Indians have always been open to global influences and that “ours will always be an open society”.

“Even in the economic sphere, we are today as open as any free market democracy in the world,” Singh said.

Addressing the Conclave, which was attended by former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the prime minister said, “I have often said, both in the context of domestic politics and international conflict, that there is no issue that cannot be resolved through dialogue and discussions.”

“Violence and force have never offered lasting solutions to human problems,” he said adding that consultative and consensual approach was what had kept the diverse nation together.

Observing that the consensual and accommodative nature had contributed to the richness of the composite culture and durability of the country’s civilisation, he said India can bring a new approach to dealing with global challenges.

Rejecting suggestions from certain quarters that India was “an open society with a closed mind”, the prime minister said he believes that Indians have always been open to global influences and the Indian society would remain an open one.

“As Gandhiji used to say, we have our doors and windows open to the free flow of ideas, yet we have confidence in ourselves that we will not be swayed by them. I want more of our citizens to appreciate this reality.

“I am often surprised by the insular outlook of some of our political and intellectual leaders. Their narrow-mindedness betrays a lack of self-confidence. It is an attitude I do not associate with being an Indian”, Singh said.

Expressing confidence that India will be willing to deal with the new opportunities and challenges, he said the country needed a “new revolution” in education, a more competitive industry and a more dynamic agricultural economy.

The Indian premier said he believed that in order to face the challenges, “we must invest in our capabilities. This is the real challenge before us.”

“Our educational system has to be modernised, made more accessible, made more relevant to our needs and aspirations. It must equip us better to deal with an ever-changing world. We must be able to draw on the intellectual resources of the world and also refurbish our own,” he said, adding that world-class institutions and infrastructure should be built.

He said energies must be focused on these priorities at home. “We must get our act together so that we can make the best use of the opportunities presenting themselves before us.”

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