Statement by External Affairs Minister in Lok Sabha on Prime Ministers Recent Visits Abroad ( December 3, 2014) December 03, 2014 Madam Speaker, I rise to make a statement on Honourable Prime Ministers foreign visits and our external engagement more broadly, since the last session of the Parliament. As Members are aware, the outcome of the historic general election in India has rekindled international interest and restored global confidence in India. Indeed, at a time of uncertainty and turbulence in the world, the new Government in India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seen as one of the positive developments in the world. There is unprecedented optimism about Indias rapid progress under Prime Ministers leadership; and, widespread expectation of effective and meaningful contribution from India for advancing peace, stability and prosperity in the world. Madam Speaker, Prime Minister has consistently advocated a proactive and innovative approach to foreign policy that is aligned with our Governments primary goal of accelerating national economic development. India needs access to capital, technology, resources, energy, markets and skills; a secure environment, a peaceful neighbourhood and a stable world; and, an open and stable global trading system. Our approach is also rooted in our inheritance of a timeless tradition of global engagement and peaceful co-existence; and, dictated by the evolving imperatives of a globalised world. In the past six months, we have moved with speed and resolve, rarely seen in Indian external engagement, to rebuild our partnerships across the world. We have set new milestones and reached new frontiers in Indias foreign policy. The global response has been just as unparalleled. Madam Speaker, since the last session of the Parliament, Prime Minister has visited Japan, the United States, Myanmar, Australia, Fiji and Nepal, besides participating in the United Nations General Assembly. We were honoured by the visits of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping to India in September. During the course of these few months, Prime Minister has met around 45 international leaders from every inhabited continent of the world. He has participated in India-ASEAN Summit, the East Asia Summit, the G20 Summit and the SAARC Summit – each of which is crucial to the future of our region, Asia and the world. Despite our shared democratic values with Australia and her enormous potential to become a vital strategic and economic partner for India, it took 28 years for the Prime Minister of India to visit Australia. Although Fiji is an influential country in the Pacific region and 37% of its population is of Indian origin, his visit to Fiji was the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 33 years. Prime Minister became the first Indian leader to host a meeting of Pacific Island countries during his visit to Fiji. The Pacific islands share our challenges and also collectively constitute an influential voice in international forums. This pioneering initiative received a rousing response from the island countries. It marks the beginning of sustained Indian partnership with the Pacific region. Prime Minister had the honour to address the Joint Session of the Australian Parliament – the first Indian Prime Minister do so - and became the first international leader to address Fijis recently elected Parliament under the new Constitution that restored democracy to the island country. Both addresses were extremely well received in the host countries and the world. In each visit, Prime Minister reached out to people in every walk of life, on a scale rarely seen before during visits by Indian leaders. It reflected our belief that in the modern era, relations between nations go well beyond national capitals and official engagements. Madam Speaker, our external engagement stands out not merely for the symbols of honour that he received, but also in terms of outcomes. We have elevated our relations with Japan to a Special Strategic and Global Partnership; tangibly deepened our relations with China, while bringing more focus on outstanding issues; restored the momentum in our strategic partnership with the United States; charted a new course in our relations with Australia; and, translated a hesitant Look East Policy of the past into a proactive Act East Policy. As our Government prepares to meet the infrastructure gap in India with the next generation infrastructure and develop Indias manufacturing sector, we have received a commitment from Government of Japan of facilitating public and private funding of 3.5 trillion Yen – or approximately 35 billion U.S. dollars - over the next five years; agreements with China on two industrial parks and intended investments of 20 billion U.S. dollars; an estimated investment plans of 42 billion U.S. dollars from U.S. companies over the next five years. With Australia, we have signed the civil nuclear cooperation agreement and other agreements to strengthen our energy security. With the United States, we have signed a significant partnership agreement to use renewable energy for rapidly expanding rural access to energy. With Nepal, we have entered a new era of cooperation that has eluded us for decades. Nearly two decades after signing the Mahakali Treaty with Nepal, we have finally constituted the Pancheshwar Development Authority for the 5600 MW multipurpose Pancheshwar Project. In addition, we have entered into a new Power Trade Agreement with Nepal; two Indian companies have received Project Licence for two hydropower projects for 900 MW each; and, we have signed the long overdue Motor Vehicles Agreement, which will make travel and tourism easier for people of both countries. Our engagement with the United States also helped secure our interests on food security in the WTO and advance the negotiations on the Doha Development Round of WTO. This initiative has contributed to strengthening the global trading regime, which is of direct interest to India, without in any way diluting our fundamental obligation to protect the interests of our poor. Our focus has been not only on infrastructure and manufacturing. At the heart of Prime Ministers engagements abroad has been efforts to promote cooperation on skill development; advanced medical research for diseases, like the agreement on research for malaria and TB with the United States; food security, such as our work with Australia on agricultural research for the benefit of our farmers; education, such as the agreement to collaborate with the United States on a new generation Indian Institute of Technology and to bring up to 1000 top university teachers from the United States annually to teach in India. Kyoto-Varanasi twinning arrangement, Ahmedabad-Guangzhou and Mumbai-Shanghai sister city agreements, or the agreement with the United States on developing three smart cities will provide impetus to our efforts to address the challenges and harness the opportunities of Indias rapid urbanisation. Multilateral and regional forums are key platforms for advancing our national interests. Prime Ministers speech in United Nations General Assembly in Hindi was a matter of great national pride for India. His call for accelerating reforms of the United Nations Security Council has imparted urgency to our efforts and his call for declaration of International Day of Yoga in the United Nations has met with widespread support. At the G20 Summit in Brisbane, where there was immense interest in Indias economic reforms, Prime Minister put the spotlight on the need for collective international action against black money; gave innovative suggestions on promoting collective action for cost-effective and sustainable solutions to infrastructure in the developing world; proposed a new global initiative on renewable energy; and, cautioned against regional trade initiatives becoming instruments of political competition and fragmentation of the global trading system. The ten-nation ASEAN is one of the worlds largest economies, with the third largest population and the third fastest growing economy behind China and India. At the India-ASEAN Summit in Myanmar, there was a new level of enthusiasm and optimism among our ASEAN partners that a reformed and a reinvigorated Indian economy would provide a stronger foundation for a deeper partnership between India and ASEAN in the cause of peace, stability and prosperity in our shared region. Prime Minister also took the opportunity of his visit to Nay Pyi Taw to pledge to Myanmars leadership a stronger partnership with one of our most important neighbours. Prime Ministers strong belief in a shared future of our neighbourhood is reflected in several concrete steps – the participation of leaders from neighbouring countries at the swearing in ceremony on May 26; his choice of Bhutan as his first foreign destination; and his visit to Nepal, which was, sadly, the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in 17 years to our closest neighbour. Prime Minister reiterated his vision of shared prosperity in South Asia at the 18th SAARC Summit in Kathmandu on November 26-27. He articulated Indias determination to lead the efforts, as the regions largest and most centrally located country, towards greater cooperation and integration in South Asia, both through SAARC and outside it. Prime Ministers vision and initiatives for the region has sparked a new wave of optimism in our South Asian partners. Madam Speaker, Prime Minister has stated on a number of occasions that we can build a prosperous future only the strong foundation of a secure India. On every occasion, Prime Minister clearly articulated Indias expectation of a stable and peaceful Asia and the surrounding ocean regions, predicated on universal acceptance of international law and norms and peaceful resolution of disputes. This also includes maritime security. Prime Minister also highlighted the emerging challenges of cyber security and space security. India shares the international concerns on developments in West Asia, including with regard to Islamic State, and its global ramifications. At the same time, Prime Minister stressed that the global challenge of terrorism requires a comprehensive global strategy against all terrorism, without drawing distinction between terrorist groups and their supporters; willingness to isolate sponsors of terrorism and to help nations willing to fight it; a need for all those who believe in humanity to stand together; and, to make every effort to delink terrorism from religion. Our external engagement has helped deepen security cooperation with key partners. Madam Speaker, The excitement, energy and confidence in the Indian community abroad about India mirror the national mood in India after the election. Prime Minister has paid special attention to reach out to the Indian community abroad on a scale that is unmatched. Our decisions on PIO and OCI have been widely welcomed by the Indian community abroad. The Indian community today not only feels more connected to India, but has responded enthusiastically to his call to participate in Indias transformation. Madam Speaker, In the last few months, Prime Minister has laid out a clear vision of Indias role and place in the world; signalled willingness to assume leadership expected from the worlds largest democracy; and, demonstrated ability to turn commitments into action and convert opportunities into outcomes. We have revived important relationships that have long suffered from neglect. We have shown our will to speak clearly on our security interests and defend them robustly. Our pursuit of global aspirations has been accompanied by global engagement. There is a new global confidence in India. In turn, Prime Ministers visits have advanced our pursuit of a secure and stable environment that we need to accomplish our development goals. It will also contribute in a significant measure to our mission of accelerating economic growth, boosting investment, creating jobs and transforming the quality of life of our people. Thank you.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 16:21:09 +0000
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