Unlike China’s rise, world comfortable with India: PM (Second Lead)
By Manish Chand, IANSSaturday, April 17, 2010
ON BOARD AIR INDIA ONE - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the world takes a “benign view” of India and is not worried about its rise, unlike that of China, and India should take advantage of this.
“The world takes a benign view of India. They want us to succeed,” Manmohan Singh told journalists on board his special aircraft while returning from an eight-day visit to the US and Brazil where he interacted with nearly 50 world leaders.
“Unlike China’s rise, the rise of India does not cause any apprehensions,” Manmohan Singh said when asked whether there was a unique Indian approach compared to the Beijing consensus and the Washington model.
“We should take advantage of it. This benign mood cannot last,” the prime minister said.
The prime minister said this when he was asked to share his overall impression of his meetings in Washington, where he attended the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit, and in Brazil, where he participated in the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) summit and Brazil-Russia-India-China (BRIC) summits.
Manmohan Singh also held bilateral meetings with nine world leaders on the sidelines of these summits, including the presidents of the US, China, France and Brazil.
Manmohan Singh, however, said that India must first tackle a host of domestic problems like poverty and underdevelopment.
“India’s problems are all at home. We should get our act together. We need to work to remove ignorance, poverty and disease,” he said.
The prime minister’s views on India’s distinctive approach vis-à-vis China was reminiscent of the lecture he gave at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington during his visit in November last year.
The prime minister had said India had chosen the democratic values, “respect for fundamental human rights, the respect for the rule of law, respect for multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious rights.”
He had stressed that although China’s GDP was higher than that of India’s he would still not like to choose the Chinese path.
In a boost to India’s global aspirations, the second summit of the BRIC grouping comprising India, Brazil, Russia and China held in Brasilia Thursday backed New Delhi and Brasilia’s greater role in the UN.
The world leaders were supportive of India’s bigger role in international affairs, official sources said.
Recently, South Africa joined 140 nations in supporting a resolution at the UN for an expansion of the UN Security Council.
During his meeting with Manmohan Singh in Washington early this week, President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated France’s support for India’s candidature for the UN Security Council.
