SPEECH BY HON’BLE MINISTER OF STATE (COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY) SHRI JYOTIRADITYA M. SCINDIA AT THE NATIONAL DAY AT SHANGHAI, AUGUST 18, 2010
1. It gives me great pleasure to address this gathering on the Indian National Day at the Shanghai Expo. This international event has provided an occasion for nations of the world to come together in support of its theme ‘BetterCity, Better Life’. Let me begin by expressing our heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the thousands of innocent Chinese men, women and children who have lost their lives due to the land slide at ZhouquCounty.
2. I would like to congratulate the Chinese Government and the Expo authorities on an impressive achievement. I would also like to express our appreciation for the cooperation extended by them for the construction and operation of the Indian pavilion and the hospitality and warmth of welcome accorded to visitors from India.
3. China and India are two of the world’s oldest civilizations. Both our nations India and China share a very ancient and rich legacy of cultural ties, trade relations and people-to people contacts. The written records of such contacts date back to at least the second century BC. The Chinese monk Fa-Hsien visited India in AD 402, stayed for ten years, and translated many Sanskrit works to Chinese. Our history has been witness to such innumerable cultural exchanges, sharing of ideas and knowledge which has benefited both the nations. More recently in the 20th century, Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis worked with the Chinese farmers as part of the Aid China Medical Mission sent by the Indian National Congress in 1938. Thus, India and China not only share a common history but also rich cultural ties which should form the bedrock for close cooperation and partnership in the future.
4. This year also marks the 60th anniversary of India and China establishing diplomatic ties. Today together our two nations represent almost one third of all humanity and are individually on the threshold of becoming the next major world powers. We are the only two nations which are experiencing high compounding growth rates, even when the global economic meltdown has seemingly paralyzed growth in many developed nations.
5. I am convinced, like many scholars, policymakers and administrators in both countries, that India and China share a great responsibility together to foster balanced and sustainable economic progress in our two nations and also take significant strides forward towards peace and sustainable development in the region as a whole to irrevocably realize our ambition of the 21st century being the Asian Century.
INDIA PAVILION AT THE SHANGHAI EXPO
6. I believe that the India pavilion at the Shanghai expo is a testament towards this dream. I am confident it will play the role of serving as a never before platform to link the “Indian Tiger” with the “Chinese Dragon” at the grassroot level.
7. I am given to understand that the India pavilion receives 30,000 plus visitors daily on an average with the peak figure at 50,000 on June 27. We have just crossed the 3 million footfall figure a few days back. I would like to thank the Government of the People’s Republic of China, Shanghai Expo authorities, along with all supporting organizations for their support in helping showcase India’s culture and her scientific developments to the people of China.
8. As a country with vast diversity in geography, traditions, languages and culture, India is at a unique intersection of the ancient with the modern. The India pavilion at the expo stands as a monument to our nation’s ability to forge a sense of harmony out of our inherent diversity. Just as India’s traditional heritage has imbibed and accepted the technological edge of its modern people, so does the India pavilion by capturing with its unique design the duality of India’s contemporary cities and rural areas.
9. In today’s technologically modern age, fighting an ever-dangerous war with global warming, India’s tryst with the environment is particularly relevant. We have been traditionally living in harmony with the environment for centuries and the concept has been core to the Indian way of life from times immemorial. To underline India’s dedication to sustainable development, eco-friendly materials are the core principles of design, architecture and display at the India Pavilion. Solar panels, water cascades, windmill, earthen tiles, tree, plants and bamboo to name a few form the rubric of the India Pavilion.
INDIA AND CHINA: TOWARD SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
10. Both India and China are large and fast growing economies and for that reason are also the largest consumers of natural resources in the world. We both need to particularly cooperate to ensure sustainable development.
11. Energy saving and environment friendly advanced technologies need to be combined with our cultures, which is totally in harmony with nature, to come up with innovative solutions for sustainable development which can simultaneously lift millions of our people from poverty and deprivation. Interesting examples of the same are the ingenious Indian designs for the $2,000 car and a computer that costs less than $100.
INDIA AND CHINA: BILATERAL TIES
12. It gives me great pleasure to share with this gathering that bilateral trade between India and China has seen a drastic jump over the last decade. Today, China is India’s largest trading partner. From a modest $3 billion at the turn of the century to an impressive $43 billion in 2009, both countries are set to reach this year’s trade target of US$ 60 billion.
13. Over the past few years, India has also been trying to develop a market for pharmaceuticals, agro products and Information Technology in China. Several trade fairs and exhibitions across China have also had a positive impact and created great awareness about India’s strengths in these and other services sectors.
OPPORTUNITY FOR CHINESE INVESTMENTS IN INDIA
14. On its part, India welcomes Chinese investments into India’s infrastructure and other high growth sectors. A number of Chinese companies already boast sizeable investments in India, including those those in the fast growing Indian telecom sector.
15. However, the potential is immense especially with regard to increasing the items in our trade basket to new areas like infrastructure, especially roads and highways. Chinese investment in India’s infrastructure has risen in recent years, but given the huge infrastructural investment ambitions of the Indian government, totalling about half a trillion U.S. dollars over the next five years, the untapped potential is still large.
16. We expect almost 30-35 percent of this half a trillion U.S. dollars investment to come from private sources where Chinese companies can actively participate. India recognizes the experience of China in facilitating infrastructure development via public private partnerships. This experience, I feel, can be tapped for establishing infrastructural capacity building programs in India.
17. In the first half of this year alone, Chinese engineering companies have secured $4 billion worth of contracts in India. The fast growth of India’s automobile sector – growing at about 20% per annum – is also attracting huge investments from the Chinese auto industry. And there is ample scope of further cooperation in sectors like hospitality, logistics, tourism and special economic zones, among others.
18. India is well known for its IT industry and China has carved its niche in the manufacturing segment. If leveraged judiciously, the two nations can profit tremendously from each other’s strengths. The strength of Chinese companies in equipment manufacture will play a significant role in India’s quest to upgrade its infrastructure. On the other hand, India’s expertise and professional acumen in areas as wide ranging as finance, education and healthcare can serve as a significant learning experience for China.
19. Going forward, I am certain that our two governments will take sufficient measures to facilitate businesses and personnel exchanges, as also provide transparent and equitable trade and investment facilitation to entrepreneurs in each country. China and India are destined to shape a new world economic order – one that is fair and rational – and would preserve the interests of developing nations.
20. In as much, the destinies of the two nations are tied together today like never before. I am sure, that the 21st century will only serve to inextricably enmesh our socio-economic goals and ambitions. In an essay on India-China contacts in his recent book, The Argumentative Indian, Nobel Laureate, Amartya Sen observes and I quote: “India and China learnt a lot from each other in the first millennium, but the significance of that epistemic process has not dried up even at the beginning of the third millennium.” I am sure these two great nations will continue to play ever increasing roles in the world affairs catalysed by deepening trade relations and increasing people-to-people contacts on a foundation of a shared culture and profound values.
Source: http://www.indianembassy.org.cn/newsDetails.aspx?NewsId=115&BId=1