1. Hon’ble Minister will be the first speaker after the brief welcome address by Mr Gautam Thapar. Ms Nooyi will deliver the keynote address thereafter. Opening ambit as appropriate. May like to say a few words about the achievements of Ms Nooyi.
2. I am sure you will agree with me that as we move into the 21st century, the issues that confront us will be vastly different from those that confronted us in the 20th century. Global warming, energy, food and not to forget terrorism are going to be at the forefront. With the price of oil at over 120 dollars a barrel, with the food crisis that we are now seeing, a catastrophe is looming over us in the future. We will need a new revolution to deal with hunger. Alternative energy sources that are being touted the world over will not be a panacea; their contribution will not be significant in the overall energy scenario. Terrorism is no longer a local or national problem as US considered it prior to 9/11 it is now global, so is global warming that is threatening the very basis of humankind. Therefore, there is a qualitative difference in what we are going to face in the 21st century. When we talk about these challenges, we need a different kind of construct – a different equation – to deal with those at a global level, together.
3. Indra, my friends in CII tell me, that in your remarks at the Global Partnership Summit of USIBC in June this year, you spoke about “A Respectful Partnership”. I believe that in today’s context, this truly describes the India-US relationship, a multidimensional, multifaceted partnership based on common values, mutual respect, and a deep and abiding commitment to democracy, human rights, peace and freedom.
4. The timing of this interaction today is premised on the emerging new trajectory of bilateral cooperation. With the historic civilian nuclear agreement close to fruition, a vista of new business opportunities is unfolding for both Indian and US companies. Officials and business leaders from both India and United States have put in commendable efforts in getting the recent waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group thereby ending India’s isolation in the realm of nuclear commerce.
5. So this is indeed the beginning of a new phase – a phase that has had a multi-partisan support from government, business and civil societies of both our countries. This powerful beginning has tremendous potential to achieve new heights in trade and investment. While the CII has estimated that new business worth $100 billion could emerge in the next ten years from the nuclear agreement, there is much more to the U.S.-India relationship than civil nuclear cooperation.
6. But that is also why, when we talk about the Indo-US nuclear deal, it is not only about India and the United States. It is about India and the international community collaborating in civil nuclear energy. We are trying to overcome the denial regime which we suffered from, and because of which we are where we are today in civilian nuclear technology terms. Once we get over that, then slowly you will see the opening up of other high technology avenues from the world over that has hitherto been denied to us such as in space technology, robotics, life-sciences, missile defence systems, environmental technology etc.
7. Albeit, both our countries have an interest in expanding economic and trade linkages, and dialogue on other global and bilateral issues of common interest. We also share common geopolitical interests that will strengthen ties in the coming years. India is no longer seen through the South Asia prism but as an emerging global power that will increasingly shape broader political and economic trends in Asia and the World.
8. A few years ago bilateral cooperation with US was mostly a one way street. We in India called for American investors and investments. However, the situation today has taken an almost 360 degree turn. India is now recognized as the fastest growing economy in terms of investments in the US. Indian investments are turning around American companies, contributing to employment and raising incomes. Reverse outsourcing is being witnessed as Indian companies look to US companies for business partnerships. The Indo-US nuclear deal is estimated to generate around 2, 50,000 jobs in the US, not a small figure by any reckoning.
9. Let me now come to the case of biotechnology. The bio-tech companies in the US are now increasingly forging alliances with bio-tech companies not in Western or even Eastern Europe, but with Indian companies as they are more efficient and much more cost-effective. So now you have joint ventures in the bio-tech sector between multinationals in the US and our small companies who are actually now innovating instead of working on the generics.
10. Undeniably, the knowledge and intellectual capacity of Indians is acknowledged globally and more so in the US. India now aspires to be a global innovation and R&D hub. India wants to participate in the global endeavour to develop cost effective technological and industrial solutions that could improve living standards of our people and elsewhere. Innovation and R&D will be the drivers for creating such a competitive edge. Today Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Goa and Chennai are hubs of innovation in India with amazing success stories of India Inc. These success stories are transcending the globe today. Over 300 Fortune 500 companies have established their R&D base in India to leverage inherent benefits related to costs, talent, spirit and ability to deliver.
·11. You blame us for giving subsidies to our farmers. But you Americans give about $ 280 billion – almost a billion dollars a day – as subsidies to your farmers. It cannot continue. The subsidies in Europe also cannot continue because they want to support a mere one per cent of their population who do agriculture as opposed to 60 per cent in India. And you talk about subsidies that we are giving to our toiling masses.
12. We have mounted a National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture to progressively adapt to anticipated changes due to global warming .I thus believe that cooperation in agriculture, between our two countries needs to usher in a new sustainable green revolution. The Agriculture Knowledge Initiative must thus be strengthened to encompass all possible cooperation spheres.
- While India has a large reservoir of highly educated human capital, we need to focus on improving and enhancing our secondary education system. This, integrated with strengthening the quality of education, is a daunting challenge ahead of us. Once again the scope of cooperation is enormous. We will have 20 million annual additions to the workforce in coming decades. There is need not just to scale up elementary and secondary education systems, but also to put in place a whole new architecture of skill development institutions from the local to the national level. We have plans to change the laws and regulations in this area, which are on the anvil. Education and skill development are thus set to become major agendas in bilateral cooperation. The US has the best and advanced practices in the field of higher education; can we adopt these in India? Already Indian students are the largest foreign contingent among US colleges, so that should not be difficult.
14. The US India High Technology Cooperation Group has a focused track in the area of health industry and on partnering extensively in life sciences, biotechnology, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. I believe it is an area we can cooperate on a win-win basis especially as medical /hospitalization costs in US are exorbitant.
·15. Infrastructure is another area of major deficit in India. Demand for infrastructure will continue to increase due to economic growth and urbanization. Currently, only 30% of India is urbanized. It is estimated that this may increase to just above 60% by 2050, thus leading to an additional 700mn people living in cities. The resulting impact on infrastructure demand will be enormous, from inner-city transport, water and sewerage to low-income housing. The Planning Commission estimates that India needs almost to double its ports, roads, power, airports and telecom in the next five years to sustain the present rate of growth that too keeping in mind the implications of climate change. It is a gigantic task, can we hope for a helping hand from the US businesses.
16. Finally, since I am on the same forum as Indra, I would like to add the component of cooperation in water. India’s freshwater resources are highly stressed owing to rapid industrialization, increased agricultural production and growing population. Much of the population does not have access to regular supply of freshwater services. Groundwater is getting depleted, and rivers and lakes are suffering from environmental degradation.
17. The recent tragedy in Bihar, Orissa, and elsewhere millions of people were displaced and livelihoods lost .It has focused our attention on water management. India needs to extend irrigation to 60% of arable land that is not yet irrigated. We need to extensively practice rainwater harvesting, considering that the major proportion of our rainfall is concentrated in the monsoon months. Further, groundwater recharge, replenishment of traditional water reservoirs, cleaning of rivers, etc is required to strengthen our water availability.
18. There is also need to link water resources in order that shortage areas can be helped by surplus areas. Hygienic piped water supply to all households is urgent to prevent water-borne diseases and raise productivity of human capital. Finally, the right balance of large dams and hydro-electric projects and small local water management projects has to be achieved.
19. India’s National Water Policy recognizes these tasks; while funds are being made available for the purpose we need technology and resources to help our initiatives. We are also mounting a National Water Mission as a part of our National Action Plan on Climate Change. I believe US companies can play an active role in this endeavour.
20. It is my belief that the third wave of investments and reforms will derive as much from social entrepreneurship as from high technology. As Professor CK Prahalad has pointed out, India offers vast potential to those companies willing enough and innovative enough to reach out to huge markets at the bottom of the income pyramid. Technology will be a major tool to access these markets.
21. I am very hopeful that the third wave of reforms will usher India into another era, an era where renewed partnerships, innovations and creativity will drive economic growth. The US India Business Council has an important role to play in strengthening these partnerships. I urge you to strategize for the long-term and evolve action plans to take US- India economic cooperation to a higher trajectory. Let us jointly develop synergies to expand the range of options available to our companies.
22. Thank you.