Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was expected to signal some authoritative message across to the NRIs during his inaugural address at the sevent edition of the much-hyped Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at the Chennai Trade Centre at Nandambakkam.
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Instead, the Prime Minister chose to deal in generalistic cliches, saying that terrorism could not cow down India.
If this was a message to the terrorists, then it was misplaced: As they understand only the language of the bullets.
If this was the message to the Indians and the NRIs, then again it was misplaced: The Mumbai terror attack lest than two months ago almost brought the country to a halt.
The Prime Minister who had, just the other day, pointed accusing fingers at Pakistan by name for its involvement in terror activities, also chose to deal in middling pronouns and vague euphemisms when talking about the triggers for the terror attacks.
Manmohan Singhsaid that India would not allow forces of terrorism and extremism to destablise the nation’s polity, economy and society and would work with international community to ensure that there were no safe havens and launching pads for terrorists.
The Prime Minister said the gruesome terror attacks in Mumbai were a grim reminder of the grave threat posed by extremism and terrorism to India’s pluralistic and liberal traditions.
‘There are many who would not like to see India succeed. But we have shown, over and over again, that we will not allow the forces of
terrorism and extremism to destabilise our polity, economy and society’, he said and added that the government had taken several steps to strengthen national security and to promote national cohesion.
‘We will continue to work with the international community to ensure
that there are no safe havens and launching pads for terrorists’, the Prime Minister said.
On the global financial meltdown, he said despite the economic downturn, the fundamentals of India’s economy continued to remain strong. ‘We expect to achieve a growth rate of about seven per cent this year, which will be among the highest in the world’.
‘Much of India’s growth is internally driven and we can maintain a strong pace of growth in the coming years’, he added.
Stating that India was actively involved in meetings of G-20 countries, which were deliberating on creation of a new global financial architecture, the Prime Minister said ‘we need to ensure that any new architecture that emerges is suited to the new challenges and vulnerabilities facing the world economy and reflective of the changes that have taken place in the economic structure’.
Strongly denouncing the Israeli attack in Gaza, he said, ‘India has strongly condemned these incidents and it is our hope that the international community would get together and help restore peace in the region as soon as possible’.
Announcing a slew of concessions to Non-Resident Indians, Manmohan Singh said that qualified professionals holding Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI) cards would be allowed to practice their professions in India.
Speaking at the convention, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said, ‘the focus of the meeting is to raise the level of discourse across the economic, social and cultural space.
To create conditions, partnerships and institutions that will best enable India to connect with its diaspora comprehensively is central to all our programmes and activities’.
Vice President of Surinam, the Indian origin Ramadiesn Sardjoe, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, K V Kamath, president, Confederation of Indian Industry also spoke on the occasion.
Among those who were present included Vice President of Mauritius Angidi Chettiyar, former Fiji Prime Minister Mahendra Choudhary, Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, State Ministers and senior leaders of the Tamilnadu Congress Committee.
The seventh edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is attended by 1500 delegates from over 110 countries.
