I am pleased to be here at the inaugural session of the India Economic Summit organised by the World Economic Forum and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Friends, your conference is taking place at an extraordinary moment in India's democratic history. Whatever is happening now is a sign of the vibrancy of Indian democracy. However, I would like to assure you that volatility in Indian politics will have no fundamental impact on the process of economic reforms in the country.

The reform process has become irreversible. Indeed, my Government has depoliticized the economic agenda.

Your summits in the past have fostered constructive interaction between foreign and Indian business and with the Government. They have also facilitated foreign business becoming familiar with India's efforts both to carry out internal liberalization and to integrate itself with the global economy.

Since you met here a year ago a number of new and decisive steps have been taken by my Government to strengthen our economic fundamentals and improve the productive efficiency of our system. In the schedule of your meetings over the next few days you would be interacting with some members of my Cabinet, some distinguished businessmen, economists and senior government functionaries. They would outline for you not only what has been achieved during this period but share their vision of the economic agenda for the coming months.

Over the last nine months my Government has taken important initiatives over a wide gamut of economic issues which cover insurance, capital markets, information technology, housing and infrastructure, to mention a few. The reform process initiated is wider and deeper than any comparable program earlier. Its multiplier effect would have long-term beneficial impact on the economic and social development of India.

We also take some pride and satisfaction that, given the turmoil in the rest of Asia and many other parts of the world, our macro-economic fundamentals continue to be strong. They create new opportunities for private investment both domestic and foreign. A GDP growth of well over 5 per cent, inflation below the double digit number, comfortable foreign exchange reserves, positive growth in agriculture, stable exchange rate management coupled with sectoral initiatives, have reaffirmed the Government's commitment to a policy of liberalisation with suitable checks and balances.

I have said so earlier and would reiterate today that there is no panacea or a role model to bring about high rates of economic growth coupled with social development. Each country has to devise a strategy that is appropriate to address its own problems and serve its growth objectives.

Discussions are going on within the Bretton Woods institutions, the United Nations and other forums for a reform of the global economic architecture. We will participate constructively in this dialogue so that the emerging reform process can durably address the malaise that has adversely affected many countries.

Such a reform process should help in the evolution of a new financial architecture based on transparency, symmetry of obligations, equity, effective management in the face of rapid flow of large sums of capital around the world, and orderly development of world trade for the common good of mankind. Poverty alleviation must remain the central objective of international action.

We recognise that globalisation is both a reality and an opportunity. We are convinced that nations cannot prosper in isolation and must forge complementary relationships based on mutuality of interests. India is committed to the continuation of its policy of liberalisation coupled with effective social safety nets. We will also pursue policies to maximise the gains from the opportunities which globalisation offers, while ensuring that credible mechanisms are in place to mitigate the risks that are inherent in this process.

Our aim is to be a strong nation, so as to be able to live in peace, prosperity, and dignity. We recognise, however, that the strength of a nation flows primarily from the strength of its economy.

Whatever we do to strengthen our national economy, we will do it in a manner that will simultaneously strengthen the democratic polity of India; whatever we do to strengthen the democratic polity, we shall simultaneously strengthen the secular unity of India; and whatever we do to strengthen our democratic polity and secular unity, we will bear in mind the need at all times to dramatically reduce poverty in the shortest possible time.

In this endeavour, our approach is the same as that advocated by Prof. Amartya Sen, the great Indian economist who won this year's Nobel Prize for Economics - namely, liberalisation and globalisation yes, but with a credible program to improve the social sector.

Many of our initiatives in the social sector are aimed at providing nutrition, hygiene, health, and education to those large numbers of our population who continue to be the victims of poverty.

India is a democratic country. Freedom of thought, freedom of action, freedom to live with diverse faiths and customs are fundamental to our culture. It is our greatest strength. I believe that these are essential components of liberalisation and globalisation.

We have another great strength. We have an unbroken record of honoring all our financial obligations to foreign investors and lenders. We have a sound legal system that incorporates many of the canons of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence.

In a vast country like ours, with a population of a billion, with a middle class nearing the size of Europe, there are unlimited opportunities for foreign investment and management.

I hope your meeting will comprehensively take these strengths into account and discuss India's legitimate claims on international investments. It will not be out of place for your summit to discuss, in terms of figures and specific sectors and projects, what amounts of foreign investment should flow into India over the next fifteen years or so, and how such investments could be mutually beneficial.

We believe that domestic savings need to be augmented and supplemented by external resources to achieve high rates of economic growth. Access to high technology dramatically improves the productivity and efficiency of investment. Foreign investment has an important contribution to make in this process.

My Government has created a new and growing opportunity for investments in infrastructure, especially in power, ports, airports, roads, telecom, information technology, in the services sector, and in insurance. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has been functioning ever more actively and has approved a large number of FDI proposals. We would like to make India an attractive destination for foreign investment - both foreign direct investment and foreign institutional investment.

We recognise that given the global shortage of capital, nations must compete in creating a milieu that attracts foreign investment. India would be second to none in establishing a transparent framework in which such investment can flourish.

Friends, for us in India, right from the early nineties, when excessive Government controls on business and industry began to be eased, liberalisation has meant a steady but sure approach, consistent with our concern to preserve social stability and democratic polity. I agree with you that the pace of change needs to be - and can be - faster. I assure you that my Government will act a lot faster, and firmer, on our economic agenda in the coming months.

Let me now outline my Government's medium-term economic agenda. In preparing India to face the challenges of full liberalisation and globalisation, my Government will create policies that will:

1) Achieve an annual GDP growth rate of 7-8 per cent through a strategy that ensures low inflation and high employment generation.

2) Strengthen the financial and banking sectors by introducing transparency, accountability, and non- interference by the Government.

3) Rein in the fiscal deficit through a combination of measures like expenditure control and increased revenue buoyancy.

4) Productively restructure our public-sector enterprises.

5) Address infrastructure constraints, and promote Information Technology as a high priority.

6) Ensure sustainable agricultural growth and create widespread rural prosperity by encouraging massive private investments in agriculture and agro-processing industry.

7) Incease domestic savings to 30 per cent of GDP.

8) Encourage high long-term export growth and incease India's share of world trade. Also to strengthen our negotiating skills in settling trade disputes and representing our interests in trade forums.

9) Massively generate employment through the small-scale industries, village, and khadi industries, and housing construction.

10) Strengthen social sectors like health and education.

11) Create a milieu that can catalyze large flows of foreign and NRI investment in our priority areas on a sustained basis.

12) Create strategies to strengthen the popular support base for economic reforms, especially at the State level, by ensuring that the fruits of economic development reach the common man.

I am happy to state that, in implementing this agenda, my Government has adopted the philosophy of active partnership with the private sector. The Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry, as well as the six important Task Forces which I have appointed are mostly composed of economists, businessmen, industrialists, and professionals without political affiliations. Similarly, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council is made up mostly of economists unaffiliated to the Government.

Before concluding, let me, once again, reiterate what I said at the outset. Do not be overly influenced by the democratic drama of the day. Look at the inherent strengths of India and the huge opportunities it offers for mutual benefit. These opportunities will grow irrespective of political vagaries.

I wish your conference a big success.