New Delhi, November 6
Stung by the criticism by political parties about the proposed nuclear deal with the US, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today regretted that these leaders did not appreciate the changing contours of the country's relationship with the world.
Without naming any political party, Dr Singh felt that the postures adopted by these parties were not in keeping with the country's present interests.
He observed that there was inadequate recognition about the increasing interdependence between India and the world and its consequence on domestic policies.
Dr Singh said he was often disappointed by the lack of adequate appreciation in the country, including political leaders, of the changing nature of India's relationship with the world and indeed with the region around the country. Very often political postures are adopted, "based in the past and out of line with our current interests as an increasingly globalised and globally integrated economy," the Prime Minister said while addressing the silver jubilee of the Indian Council for Research and International Economic Relations (ICRIER) here.
He stressed that India was destined to be more globally engaged and integrated with its own region. In this context he pointed out that the country's energy security was closely intertwined with "our political relations with a wide range of countries around the globe. Our food security and indeed our national security are closely linked to developments around the world".
He cautioned that political posturing was coming in the way of economic policies which could have an adverse impact on India's global integration.
The Prime Minister expressed confidence that India would see larger inflows of talented professionals, especially from the country's diaspora spread across 110 countries, which he attributed to the country's standing in the global knowledge economy.
"As the Indian economy modernises and grows, we should expect a reverse migration of talent, especially from the diaspora. What I would call a reverse brain drain is in the making and how can this be encouraged," he thought aloud for thinktanks like the ICRIER to study.
Dr Singh, who was himself associated with the ICRIER, praised the organisation, saying that it had lived up to the expectations of its founders. He said the ICRIER must make a deep analysis of the behaviour of the international financial markets. He suggested that the ICRIER should consider acquiring a deeper understanding of China which would be of immense value to economic planners, diplomats and the polity at large.
He said there was inadequate reconciling about the increasing interdependence between India and the world and the consequences of increased global interdependence. The optimism about the Indian economy needed to be sustained and converted to tangible decisions benefiting the economy, he
added.
