Open economy is our motto: PM

India is committed to multilateralism in trade: Manmohan Singh

Asserting that India was committed to remain an open economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said there was a greater willingness internationally now to work with the country and build relationships of mutual benefits.

It was now a new India committed to remain an open society and open economy where ideas of "brain drain" had been replaced by "brain gain", Singh said in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, published today.

If a commitment to remain an open society was one of the pillars of India's nationhood, the other was its commitment to remain an open economy"" one "that guarantees freedom of enterprise, respects individual creativity, and mobilises public investment for social infrastructure," he said.

Just as developed industrial economies enabled "economies in transition" to graduate into open economies, said Singh, "I believe India's policies toward the world have been shaped by this commitment, and we should be proud to identify with those who defend the values of liberal democracy and secularism across the world."

Indian industry and Indian professionals, he pointed out, had demonstrated their ability to step out with confidence from a highly protected environment into a mercilessly competitive one.

"We do have a vast unfinished agenda of social and economic development, and my government's priority will be to implement this," said Singh.

"Doing so will further enable us to deal with the challenges of globalisation. The global environment has never been more conducive to India's economic development than it is today.

"The world wants India to do well. However, we recognise that our real challenges are at home. It is for this reason that we place such great emphasis on increasing investment in infrastructure, agriculture, health and education, urban renewal and the knowledge economy," he said.

Acknowledging that there was much more that India could do to draw on global savings and global markets, he said "as a developing economy we must tap international resources to fuel our development."

"We should be more open to global capital flows and better prepared to take advantage of new markets for goods and services. India is committed to multilateralism in trade but we will seek the reform and democratisation of multilateral institutions."

Globalisation was both an opportunity and a challenge, Singh said, adding a decade ago, who could have imagined that India would be a major software services exporter?

"We now ask ourselves," said the Prime Minster, "If we are doing enough to secure this edge. The growth of India's knowledge economy has opened up new markets for science-and-technology-based products.

"In manufacturing, too, there are global opportunities. The end of the multifiber agreement opens up new vistas in trade in textiles." India, said Singh, would like to make globalisation a "win-win" game. This had already happened in substantial measure, he said.

"Our relations with major powers, especially the US and more recently China," said Singh, "have increasingly been shaped by economic factors".

Who could have imagined that China would emerge as our second largest trade partner?

"In the case of the us, an acceleration of people-to-people contact and the consequent business-to-business interaction has forged closer state-to-state relations. Shared values and growing economic links have enabled a closer strategic engagement."

Similarly, he said, business and commerce also underpin India's strategic partnership with the European Union.

"It must be our endeavour," said Singh, "to ensure that economic and commercial links contribute to a strong and new element in our traditionally friendly relations with Russia.

"In fact, I believe that our strategic relationship with the Russian federation can be greatly enriched by a greater focus on bilateral economic relations."

"Renewed co-operation in the economic field is giving a new profile in India's relations with japan, with Japanese investment flows set to increase," the prime minister said.

"Concern for energy security has become an important element of Indian diplomacy and is shaping our relations with a range of countries across the globe, in west Asia, central Asia, Africa and Latin America," he said.

It is notable, said Singh, that the response of other countries to India's national security concerns is being shaped by perceptions of business and economic opportunities.

"Countries that imposed sanctions on India when we declared ourselves a nuclear weapons power are building bridges with us, to take advantage of the opportunities for mutual benefit.

"None of us can underestimate the role of economic interdependence in international relations. The example of the eu, asean and apec, nafta and other regional groups shows that the most dynamic economies are creating such relationships for mutual benefit, regional security and peace.

"Indeed" said singh, "india seeks to be more closely engaged with such regional groups. Our links with each of these regions is both civilisational and contemporary, with people of indian origin acting as a cultural bridge between our multicultural societies.

"Our foreign policy is, of course, shaped by our civilisational values, and by our commitment to peace and freedom. But it is now equally shaped by our commitment to our economic development, within the framework of an open society and an open economy."