(00:00:00) Since I left the government and went back into the practice of law with the firm apartment hakken, Washington DC. One of the things that I have wanted to do was to bring together some of the outstanding business establishment in this great state of ours together with comparable companies in India. I've been in India, perhaps 60 times wearing a number of different hats over the last three decades and I've watched the growth of that country and have recognized the great possibilities there for profitable and useful investment. And then to think back to Minnesota and my days as Governor when we traveled around the world talking about this state and so I've been working to put together Minnesota companies and Indian companies and take advantage of that rapidly growing Market. Ambassador Hussein is a distinguished International Statesman. He was a part of the leadership group in India served in state and National positions of importance with the United Nations number of assignments all over the world, both diplomatic and economic. I've come to know him well and to respect him highly he's one of the key Architects on the great changes that have taken place in India quite recently. The country has been changing in a major way, but with the new Administration that took power radical quote on quote very significant liberalisation, 's welcoming and encouraging investment in India have taken place as a prime minister said recently. India has rejoined the world. The Ambassador was a key architect in this you speak to us here today and answer questions. Ladies and gentlemen, would you join me in welcoming this distinguished Statesman and his wife to the great state of Minnesota Ambassador. Who saved Mister check whiskey (00:02:23) Governor mr. Freeman Adam Freeman and friends. First of all, I would like to thank you for for giving me this opportunity to be with you this afternoon. I'm really touched by your hospitality and the courtesies that you have extended to me here. I am also thankful to your great City for the lovely reception that it has given to me and to my wife these two days have been great days in my life in my state in United States, and I think I will remember Minnesota forever. Friends today I have been asked to speak to you about my country India and the changes which are taking place in that part of the world. India is known to most of you. And it was a great pleasure for me to meet many people who had already discovered India and had not to be told as to where India is in what India is doing? But I thought that there are certain images of India which need to be put in proper perspective. India was known as island of poverty and hunger India was known as a land of illiteracy in England which suffered with several diseases of heart and mind. Yes, that was India. Which got its independence in 1950? Actually, we got away Independence 47, but it was the Constitution we got in 50 and since then. The image of India has undergone a big change. Because India is no longer the same India that it was. When we got our independence surely it was a very poor country in a hungry country. We were not able to grow more than 50 million tons of food grains, and we've always in the midst of hunger that was the time. We'll all over your opinion your country. The picture of India was India dying for a piece of bread. But today after about 43 years of Independence. The situation has changed today. We are growing hundred and eighty million tons of food grains, and we are able to feed our people without importing food from anywhere. In fact, we have been exporting food to some parts of the world. And India where people were dying of hunger. Today we do not have deaths due to hunger in that part of the world. similarly in the area of Industries India was described as an industrial desert. And it was not far from truth. We hardly had any Industries in the year 47 and 48. We hardly had any class of people who could have been described as industrialists. We did not have the industrial Workforce in the country. We had a few textile Industries a few jute Industries. We had a half-hearted attempt made at setting up a steel plant and most of the industries which we had were really to serve the interest of England which was the master of India at that point of time. But today when you look at India, it has caught. Industries in almost all the Realms that you could think of engineering Industries Industries based on chemicals industry is run with electric power with the modern power of what you call Electronics run on the basis of computers. What not most of the thing which we consume in our country today are not imported. They are Made in India itself. And India, perhaps you'll be happy to know is now the 10th industrial power in the world. India as I told you was the land of illiteracy, we hardly had any professions or Professionals in India when we got our independence. We had doctors, but they were few and they were trained abroad we had Engineers. They were educated abroad mostly in England and who used to work for us on building of Roads Bridges and some buildings. We hardly had the managers of the financials. We had few lawyers in debt to again who had the Barrett law from London. Today when you look at India, we have got one six of the world's intellectual Manpower in my country when I say intellectual. I am not talking of philosophers a big scientist or Einstein's I am talking of people. Who are the technocrats who are doctors who are Engineers who are physicists who are chemists who are lawyers who are builders. Kick any profession and V have them in India? So today India is not the country which we had imagined or believed to be. Earlier by 1947 and 48 as I said. But we also feel that what we have achieved is not enough for us. It's true that we have got a hundred and eighty million tons of food grains of production in my country. It's true that we don't import food in my country. But if you look at the intake of food in my country It is much less than the minimum which has been prescribed by who is the minimum calories needed for a decent life to be led by a decent citizen of a country. We are able no doubt to produce a hundred and eighty million tons of food grains, and we have had a Green Revolution with the help of the technicians the knowledge which we receive from your country. But then it is not that the whole of India which has been green. There are many parts of India where agriculture has still been carry down in the old hackneyed banner, and we have got to ensure that we are able to carry this Agricultural Revolution. To the other parts of India so that there is more purchasing power to be created so that there is ample production available to feed people according to the modern decent standards. And then also to help those countries which need help in the area of food. Similarly in the area of Industries. We are not satisfied with what we have achieved quantitatively. Yes. We are the one can of industrial power one could say but if you look at the quality of goods or the price of a Goods the supply of a Goods. We are not satisfied with that. We have to go a long way to be competitive in the international market. We have got to reduce the prices of our products. We have got to improve the profile and design of our products. And therefore there is a lot more that we have got to do then what we have achieved similarly when I spoke to you about the intellectual class or the brain cross which we have created in the country. We are not satisfied with what deal we have given to them. There are many of our Engineers many of our doctors many of your physicists scientists and others who had to leave the country to find the jobs elsewhere. Some of them have come to your country and you have greeted them with open arms. You have given them beautiful opportunities to flower in your land. And you know how well they have done. They have not become a burden on your Society on the contrary. They have taken a burden of your society and that is why perhaps you like them and that is why we also feel so at home in your country, but the question remains that how can a country allow It's flowers. It's brains to move out of the country. And therefore it is very clear that we have got to improve the opportunities for employment in India. We have got to provide them the opportunities where they could really creatively come contribute to the development of India. So when you look at these particular things You feel that one cannot be satisfied with the progress of India and it's true. That's the contradiction which we face that on one side. Our achievements are not insignificant as I describe certain statistics to you. But at the same time when you see as to what more has got to be done how many miles we have got to go in order to reach a destination. We feel dissatisfied. The other day I was coaching lot Kings when somebody asks lot canes that how's your wife not keen supplied compared to whose wife similarly the case of India that yes, we have done very well, but when we compare ourselves with some other countries, we don't feel satisfied and happy we have got to do much more now. What is it that was missing in India that having a good man Papa having a good agriculture coming up having dead the foundations for industry that we are not able to move forward. The willingness to sacrifice for India's development is there in the people of India? You will I'm sure be happy to know that 96% of all investment, which has gone in India's Agricultural and Industrial growth Has Come From Within India. India has a saving rate of about 23% which is a mighty big saving for. a poor country But then we cannot really depend only on the Indian what you call Investments and the Indian man power and the Indian Technologies, which we have. We have got to have that critical help from outside without which we can't do much. And it is a fact that the achievements which I described to you. We were able to achieve those with the help of our friends and allies from outside India from your country. A lot of help came to us in the form of seed money in the form of technicians and technocrats in the form of teachers and lecturers who came there. They provided as I usually put it that critical mass without which you cannot really achieve much. It is that catalytic agent which makes it possible for the chemical action to take place and it is with that help we have been able to achieve something of which we are proud of but having not been satisfied with what we have achieved and when we compare ourselves with what others have achieved we have been feeling restless to do something about the Indian situation. We started wondering as to where have we gone wrong? What is it that is needed to be done and we discovered it. That we went wrong in not allowing technology to come to our country. We went wrong in not allowing competition to grow within the society. We went wrong in preventing in the name of import substitution Outsiders to come and compete with insiders in the country in which they did in the beginning thinking that we are providing protection to our infant industry. We did it in the beginning in order to give opportunities to our local industrialists and entrepreneurs to come up we did it in order to give self-confidence to our scientists and technocrats. It was good up to a particular point of time. But when I approach became an approach of Reinventing the wheel whenever I approach became an approach of putting the shutters down and raising the prices inside the country to give profits to buy industrialists. We found that the industry is totally neglected Improvement in the products. They totally forgot the lesson of improving the productivity. They thought that if they were making profits in the closed economy of India, it is good for them. Yes. It is good for them. But not good for the people of India and it became clear to us that unless and until That is a threat to the existence of business and industry the business and industry would not achieve what you call the levels of Excellence, which others have achieved unless there is a competition the man is not inclined to improve the productivity by importing or by infusing more of newer Technologies when we compared ourselves with Republic of Korea, we found that the same country to which we were exporting. Machine Tools in 1960s. We had started importing Machine Tools from Republic of Korea. We and Canada started making locomotives with the same drawings which were given to the British ship to us and to Canadians in 50. We were able to sell our locomotives all over the world. But after 70s, we found we were not able to do it our steel plants which were competitive in 60s. They were completely overtaken by the new steel plants which had come up in other countries and the answer was not far to see we found it Republic of Korea beaches Hollow because it was using the new generation of Technologies while we were not using Can it I started improving its techniques ITS Technologies and others of making locomotives while we were still stuck with the old design in this steel. Also, we found that thing so the answer became very clear that somewhere the economic regime of India are needed to be changed somewhere. It is absolutely necessary for us to open our economy and allow Outsiders to come. But then what was it that was holding us back. There was a feeling of fear that if the outsider comes he will overwhelm the Insiders and we will again be back in the same Colonial stage that it was. We also felt that we had not really understood as to what was happening in the rest of the world. The question was that should India really? Be left with that condition as to which. We cannot be a party to which cannot really give us that particular type of project and that quantity of product which is needed to feed 800 billion people. And we found that with the type of Industrial Development and agricultural development in the prosperity which came because of Technologies how a half-hearted it. Maybe we were able to achieve certain things. Why should not we build on those achievements? So we started wondering what are those achievements which we have we found that the biggest achievement which had happened in India was that we created a middle class middle class is biggest 200 million people today are there in India, which is more than the total population of France and England put together which cannot be ignored by anybody anywhere in the world. And it is this particular class which has a standard of living somewhere between what you call Spain and Portuguese. Let's say Portuguese and Italy. If we have got that sort of a class. What are we afraid of and if we have got technologists who are acceptable in the most competitive country like America, why can't we make use of them within the country and if we have industrialists who could go to England London and other places and are able to set up their Industries and establish themselves vis-à-vis their what you call the British industrialization others, why can't the industry is do better and take that particular competition within the country. So the answer became very clear to us that with these particular assets that we have got in our country. We must say goodbye to the old regime of what you called controls old regimes of protection old regime of what you call closing down our economy to the outside world. And I'm happy to tell you and you'll be happy to hear this that now we have got a government. We have got a prime minister who believes in this particular thing. Maybe he remained out of power for about six or seven months and maybe they're six or seven months. He spent here in America which made him see light and he has discovered it that if India is going to open up its trade if India is open up its economy and integrate it with the rest of the world. India will be able to achieve what some of its neighbors have been able to achieve and maybe we'll be able to overtake them. Today the new reforms which have come in India have spelt out this very thing we have decided that the outsiders are not any Michael to India's growth. They are welcome to India. We have decided that they can come and invest as much as they would like earlier. We had said that Outsider should not invest more than forty one percent so that he may remain a junior partner in that project earlier. We had said that if Outsider comes he must be able to earn foreign exchange through Xbox that is to say at least 50 to 70 percent of products. You should sell abroad The Outsider was not interested in coming to India in order to sell things outside. He was interested in Indian market. So therefore we have decided Now The Outsider can come and set up the industries in India end. Learn as much of prophet as he could and repatriate also and we have told our industrial is that we have given you enough an ample time to enjoy the protected market. Now, you have got to establish Your Excellence in the market and set an example for others earlier. We had limited the outside Investments to be confined only to a few areas. Now we have opened up all the areas and there are very few areas, which are left only for the Indians to handle. We have also allowed that. The rupee convertibility is available to you not the total but at least 60% of the earnings could be converted in any currency. That one likes in India. We have also allowed collaboration and cooperation on any terms that one would like to do in India. And at the same time we also discovered they have a cherry folds were extremely high so high that if Outsider were to sell their products in the country the cost will go up in skyrocketing. So therefore we wanted to stop it by saying that bit by bit. We will bring down what you call the Tariff walls and I am happy to tell you that these particular reforms have already started showing results in India. The middle class has become much more vigorous than it was ever the industrialists are now greeting The Outsider to join with them and to develop new Industries the market which was flourishing in India and yet at the same time. What's the starving for goods from abroad can receive goods from abroad and can enjoy it and this particular middle class is hungry to move forward. They are wanting to live a life much better than the life led by their predecessors or by the elders. They are not ashamed of being a consumer class. They are not ashamed of sending their children to the best schools or to the English-speaking schools. They are not ashamed if they're women are able to what you call earned livelihood. Also along with the meant for now. These are the new things which are happening in the new response, which has come up there were people who were saying that the minority government of Rao will not be able to bring in these particular reforms because the arithmetic of his party was such that he can be defeated on the floor of the house. But it is a wonderful thing which is happening there that the parties may be divided on political grounds and political reasons and ideologies. But when it comes to voting they are giving a thumping support to the reforms end to the new changes which Rao is bringing in India. And I must say that it has also received good support from outside when others were saying that India's economy was dwindling the World Bank and IMF took a view of the Indian situation and gave a clear set difficuit that India's finances may be in difficulty but its economy is son. They gave a clear advice to us that what is needed is certain structural changes in financial aspect and then India will be able to draw money from outside and move ahead and it has started happening. I am also happy to tell you that even in this country. The response is overwhelming in the last hundred and fifty days that the new government is functioning in the real sense of the word. We have been able to find at least 12 or 15 companies. We have started going to India and trying to set up the industry's there the American Industrial Age the American entrepreneur Was never a suspicious of opportunities which existed in India. If he had a grievance, he had a grievance against the bureaucracy of India if he had a grievance. He had a grievance against the procedures which were followed in India to enter into the Indian market was like fighting a third world war. It was a difficult thing and they had opportunities to go anywhere else in the world. And why should they really break their head to get into India? But now when they find that a country with these particular opportunities where agriculture is growing at 2% at the rate of two percent where industry is growing at the rate of seven to eight percent where services are growing at the rate of 12% where the educated class is multiplying at the rate of 10% where you have got a middle class of 200 million where you have got an entrepreneur class of 13 million. Where you have got what you call the technocratic setup, which we have provided for in India. They feel this is the country where we can move and we can achieve something and I am happy to tell you that wherever I'm going. I'm finding this new response. Which overwhelms me I tell you when I talk to them and I try to find out whether they are interested in India. I have been two days now in your beautiful city and I have met a number of what you call corporate Chiefs over here. It swells my heart with joy when I learn from them that some of them have already visited India and they're wanting to set up what you call the new units there. I was with Cargill yesterday and I was happy to know that they have already made an entry in India and they are looking for better opportunities over there. I was with cry the other day crate and they told me that the first supercomputer had been soul and their experience has been extremely nice and they would like now to go in for the second supercomputer and also work out what you call some competitive and collaborative arrangements with India. I made the 3M people. I made the Honeywell number of them I can count Where I find that they have started moving in. This is a good beginning I would say and this is the new image of India which has arrived here and I am sure and I am confident of it that in the New World Order about which your president has talked to talk already. I think you and I can join together and move ahead because ours are two great democracies. Yours is a democracy and our is a democracy. You know it I don't have to say that from the very day. We got our independence. We got committed to democracy and we never let democracy be a priest in my country. We never let the flame of democracy die come watch me. We were invaded twice or Thrice by a good neighbor from the West. We were invaded by another neighbor from the north, but we never made those an excuse for everything democracy on the contrary like what you did when you did not find a precedent being following the terms of what? All the Democratic and model Authority which is imposed in him. You got him out of the White House. Similarly. We have also made two prime ministers leave the prime minister's house when we found them averaging democracy. India has always remained committed to democracy. Our entire developmental program is within the framework of democracy and therefore when I Look at India from a distance now from America. I feel so happy and thrilled about it that we have been able to maintain democracy in that country, and we have been able to try what you call these schemes of development and economic growth within that particular framework, and yours is another country, which has done it. It has done a marvelous job leap into work keeping these two pillars as strong as ever the pillar of democracy and the pillar of free trade. I think a time has come when we must recognize each other's role in this particular New World Order. We can join together hand in hand. We can move together. We can fly over to flex together and announce to the world that they developed and the developing country is joined together to bring new peace prosperity and happiness to the whole world. Thank you. (00:30:32) Thank you very much Ambassador Hussein. We now have some time for questions and let me start out with one. You talked a lot about the economy of India and I think a lot of business people here today, when they think of India, they don't think of the the images of starving people in Bombay anymore, but they do often think of violence and riots and politically and religiously motivated Strife. Can you give us some idea of what the new government is doing to quell some of those problems particularly the religious and class struggles in domestic, India. (00:31:09) I entirely agree with the picture which you have presented and that is the picture which haunts us also but we definitely feel that the stresses and strains with you find and which takes the shape of the riots and others basically due to the fact that the Indian economy is moving slower than it was necessary and you would agree with me that if economy becomes a zero sum game it creates a lot of problems between the people who get advantage of it and the people who are left outside it and therefore the answer to some of these problems of India is more growth faster growth and larger pace of growth than the others. It's only when the size of the cake increases. It's only when the size of the pie increases that everybody feels happy and satisfied. (00:31:59) Thank you Ambassador. We have a question now from ranji shastri. Mr. Ambassador there I think two ways that Americans can invest in India one is through their company's direct investment in Indian subsidiaries, and the second would be through the stock market and you've talked about the first can you talk a little bit about the (00:32:18) second? You're right. I was talking about the industrial growth and what could be invested in setting up Industries and others but simultaneously we are trying to make what you call our Capital Market become much stronger than it has been and as a matter of fact, it has already started spreading and the day is not far off when in the stock market also you would be allowed to invest. (00:32:45) Thank you very much Ambassador over here now for our radio audience. Just a reminder. You're listening to Ambassador abib Hussein from India speaking to on the station's of Minnesota Public Radio. We now have a question from Gary Kaplan. (00:33:01) What is India's policy toward birth control? And what success have you had in that area? That is one of the most difficult issues that we are facing today and our assumption is that the explosion of population is mainly due to slow economic growth. It is only when economic growth takes place a complete by a good education and especially female education that we would be able to control the population. And as a matter of fact in India, there are some of the states where we have female education and literacy sent person accompanied by economic growth and there we have found that the population growth has been arrested. So the answer is that we have not only got to have a medical program of Family Planning, but we also have to have the policy of economic growth to be pursued with determination and with religious Zeal and accompanied by more education for the female because that's the only way that we will be able to control (00:34:04) population. Thank you Ambassador. We have a question on this side. Now. I'm going to let him introduce himself. My name is Korean Peril. And my question is you have broadly described the opening of the market. Have you defined the preferential areas that you would like to invite country like the United States, you know, so that so that there will be some kind of definition as to what type of industries that would try more in a country like ours versus you know, (00:34:41) you see the first thing which we have done is that we have said that it is for the market to settle and decide as to what the investor should put his money in. So that is why we are not trying to restrict anybody to only preferential areas, but certainly there are certain areas of advantage to us in which we are more keen than in other projects and Telecommunications is one In which we are extremely interested and then the second thing is to combine the American Hardware with the Indian software capabilities and we feel and it is actually happening Honeywell and others have worked out many programs where the computer programs programming analysis and all that could be taken up between India and America and much more than that. What we really feel is that the new areas of Technology of new materials and others is an area in which India has started working and would like much of help from America. But let me also emphasize yet one more field that is of Agriculture people forget and neglect that particular part in their Zeal and zest only to go for manufactured items. We are insisting now that if there are companies and factories, which will come to make what you call. Agree Industries and agree industrial projects to be taken up will be extremely (00:36:08) happy. Thank you Ambassador. We have a question now. We have a question from Janet Dow. Mr. Ambassador, what steps has the Indian government taken to improve the efficiency of the airline industry in India. (00:36:24) You see that again competition is the only answer as I was telling you as long as the aviation or any area which remains has the Monopoly of the government or of the private sector. We cannot really expect much. So the first thing which we have started doing is to open up India too many other what you call Airlines to come over there. The second thing which we are trying to do is to improve the management and in order to improve the management of the airlines in what you call Aviation Services, which are providing we have opened them up to the private sector and we get the best of the management from the private sector to those particular areas. And then we are also starting what you call are taxis so that there are certain parts of India where there will be competition between the Indian. Aviation Services themselves so that we would be able to improve the tone of service. (00:37:22) Thank you very much Ambassador Hussein. We have a question now from Kenneth Anderson. Mr. Ambassador, could you explain what the nature of India's relationship with the United States today and how expect that to involve evolve and maybe you could give a little background as to how that relates or what happened in the past in terms of our (00:37:44) relationship. I would say that the relations with America are warming up and are improving. And in the past also if you really look to the times when we got over Independence our relations were at a peak. There are very few people who know that it was mr. Churchill who was the Prime Minister of England of UK who had said that he has not become the first prime minister of his Majesty's government to preside over the liquidation of British Empire and that was exactly the time when mr. Franklin D Roosevelt. Your president said that the sacrifices of my young men would have gone waste in the second world war. If we don't give Independence to India from that particular time to I would say late 50s. We were extremely close with America. And as a matter of fact, I wanted to make a reference to it that when we were short of food when we got our independence. It is under PL 480 that it was America, which sent what you call the ships of food to us and I think Orville Freeman when he became the secretary of agriculture. He did a marvelous job in bringing food to India at a point of time. We were facing dire starvation in the country. So I would say that if you look to the earlier part of the 50s when we got our independence, as I said our conditions were such that two of us were very close and if you look at our constitution also, A large part of India's Constitution is based on your written Constitution. It was only later when the Cold War became really very cold that our relations also got cooled because there was a feeling and a perception of security in which it was thought that it was necessary for all countries to cordon off what you call Soviet Union and India did not join what you call that theory of accepted the theory of philosophy that it should join what in the encirclement of the Soviet Union and as long as the Soviet Union and remain there was that lurking doubt which always remained in the American security minded people that perhaps India and America are not good friends, but that was really a misperception but not affect and now after the end of the Cold War with the demise of Communism in Soviet Union and with the Demise of the Soviet Union itself. I think that particular hesitation which haunted up our minds is no longer there. And today you find that India and America have starting coming very close to each other. If you look to the trade, you will find except for one or two points on which there is a difference of opinion. There is a growing confidence between our Administration and the American Administration. If you look even to the question of Kashmir, you will find that the American interpretation of the events and they're clear statement that you see that the old resolutions of the United Nations have died and that cessation is not on cards and not acceptable to America. It has come very close to a very sensitive issue in which we believe if you look to the difference, you will find that never before did so many of the top-ranking. officers from the defense India I'm in the Defence forces of India visited America as they have visited now, and if you look to the technology and transfer of Technology You'll be happy to know that there are many channels which have got open which were earlier not there. And even on those questions where there is a hesitation and doubt between our two countries. We are trying to resolve them through bilateral negotiations and bilateral talks and if you see the way in which the voting has taken place recently in the security Council, you will be happy to see the two of us the American end the Indians have stood together and pass the resolution unanimously because there was a time when it used to be said that every time that a resolution was moved by America somehow either India abstain or did not vote with America now it is the other way round that it hardly happens that India does not vote along with America because we believe fundamentally on certain things. Which is the common platform for making this world a happier place and gentler (00:42:28) place? Thank you Ambassador. We have a question now from Malcolm McLean. Thank you for your Splendid address. Mr. (00:42:36) Ambassador and welcome again to Minnesota. I'd like to go back to the question that mr. Capon asked and on the question of population. I had the great pleasure being in India last month. I don't think I've ever had an experience in my life that was equal to that of driving from New Delhi down to Borelli in utter Pradesh. There were thousands and thousands and thousands upon people in on the road and the highway there of all shapes and conditions and it was wonderful to see them when I was a boy in the city of Duluth and this state and the 1930s India had 330 million people and that included what was then Pakistan and now Bangladesh it is now 857 million. It just it worries me and I know that I'm speaking as member the high consuming West and we have all sorts of things that we need to do on that the doubling time for (00:43:27) India according to the these the The statistics is 33 years which (00:43:31) would mean 1.7 billion in 33 years 100 years from now 6.8 billion. So I hope that a growth strategy is enough. Can you elaborate do you welcome International participation and help in this personally, excuse me for talking so much. I think we all like to get together in India and United States everybody else. It's say that this whole question of world population growth is a matter of major concern would you make it is I completely agree with you and I repeat again that population is one of the major concerns of India and we fail to solve that particular problem when we thought only through the medical approach will be able to tackle this problem. Well, you have been to India and you have seen that in those particular parts of India where economic growth has been slow, especially in the Northern parts of states. The population is growing very fast, but in the Then in the western part where the economic growth is fast, and we're education especially the female education. I repeat it again has been given an emphasis the population you see is getting under control and I'm also happy to inform you that after a long time in the eighth Five-Year Plan a major emphasis has been given to population control and on population control like in any other area as I described to you India is now open to receive the advice and help which would be forthcoming and I may inform you about a very interesting thing which is going to happen. Mr. McNamara is going to India and he would be addressing in Delhi large audiences on 23rd of May on the question of population itself. As you know, he took some major initiatives in the United Nations very recently and the first country which he is visiting is India. And I may see that he's visiting on the invitation which has come from India that shows us to how much we are eager to draw people like him and others who would be able to offer as advice and support in this particular area of work. (00:45:44) Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Ambassador. You were listening to Ambassador abib Hussein of India on the station's of Minnesota Public Radio. We have a question now from a Minnesota meeting member John Richter. (00:46:01) How about China? What is your relation ship with China? (00:46:05) You see with (00:46:06) China you remember I made a difference that one of the friends invaded is from the north. I was meaning China. You see we started very well with China and actually we were responsible for sponsoring the candidature for admission to the United Nations. And the relationship is extremely normal till we were invaded by China in 1962 since then the relations were not normal, but I am happy to tell you now the normalization has set in because India has decided to take up through bilateral negotiations all problems with its neighbors whether it is Pakistan or whether it is China or Nepal or any country and I am happy to report it to you that with both the countries with China and Pakistan. We are trying to build up what you call confidence-building measures so that you see in understanding may be established and the point Disputes are amicably settled through bilateral (00:47:08) discussions. Thank you. We have a question now from Mario Perez. Mr. Ambassador in your fine and eloquent address. You said, I believe that the restrictions and majority ownership by Foreign corporations were being lifted. Could you be could I ask (00:47:31) you to be more specific and tell us (00:47:35) what a foreign corporation is allowed to do in India right now. (00:47:40) It's the first as I answered by a friend. There are no restrictions except for about seven or eight areas which are defense-oriented and oriented to Railways and questions relating to the use of nuclear energy and others. These are the few restricted areas. The rest is open and any Corporation any Outsider is permitted to do it. The earlier restriction was that nobody coming from outside would be allowed to have an investment of over forty one percent that has been taken off. Earlier, the Restriction was that the imported items have got to be met by exchange learning through exports. Now. They have said that you can bring any number of things from outside as long as you're finding foreign exchange either in India or outside earlier. It was said that you have got to indigenous your Machinery meaning thereby that if you have started working with Cent percent of foreign Machinery, it's Replacements. Another should be Indian which was a big handicap to the people coming in because they were not satisfied that such a thing could be done and earlier there were restrictions of areas in which you see you could get in and especially the entire consumer industry was taken off and was restricted only to what you call the high item areas, which were really what you call low. Profit oriented Industries now we have taken it off. So from Coca-Cola to Pepsi Cola to anything. You're welcome there. (00:49:27) Thank you very much Ambassador Hussein. We have a question from Ted Peterson now. Mr. Ambassador. What is India's legislative program for pollution control one and number (00:49:39) two say it couldn't get it. (00:49:41) Yes. Can you tell me what is India's legislative program for pollution control both air and water and number two. How will the pollution control laws be (00:49:51) enforced? But you see you would perhaps agree with me that India was one of the very first countries which took and participated with participated in the environment conference, which was held in Sweden and one of the speeches which was delivered by mrs. Indira. Gandhi over there ready did the foundations for what the developing countries could do in the area of pollution control and she in her own style said that one of the most important polluter in my country that is in India was poverty itself. She said that the most of the environment in India was becoming unhygienic and was becoming Unlivable mostly because of the fact that India is too poor a country and its poor people do not really care to preserve what you call environment to cleanliness. This was one part of it. The second is this that India has already introduced legislation regarding as we call them dirty Industries as to how the water let us say from the leather industry or the pollution which is made by the paper industry has got to be controlled and the today we have got a separate Ministry for environmental control and industries are being forced to abide by what you call certain norms and standards which has been set up for keeping the environment free but having said that I hope you will agree with me that in a poor country which takes to industrialization at this late stage. It becomes extremely costly for it to impose on it or superimpose on it the conditions of what you call. And after the Bhopal tragedy as it is called we have become extremely careful that we're chemical Industries are concerned. We will have to double check it and ensure it and get a certificate of what you call environment clean measures to be taken by them. So there is a legislation. There is a Ministry, and there are laws, which have already been enacted in order to see that environment is preserved. But having said that I would also say that at the present stage of its economic growth and the level of poverty, which is still there in India one cannot really say that we will be able to implement all the laws that we have (00:52:14) passed. Thank you. Mr. Ambassador. We have time now for just one more brief question from dick McFarland. Mr. Ambassador. Could you please comment on the role of (00:52:23) Japan in outside investment in your country? The largest investment which we have it in there today is from USA earlier. It was UK which was leading. Japan was never in the picture at all. But of late Japan has started coming in first. It came in Machine Tool industry and it came in big forging also and then the biggest investment which has come from Japan is in the case of Suzuki cars, which are known as maruti cars in India, but by and large, I would say that we find it very hard to get what you call investments from Japan for one or two reasons one the Japan really thinks more of getting a market rather than healing its market and India is today in need of finding markets. And therefore we are right three wanting to have such Partners who would not only take advantage of the Indian market but would also Able to open up its Market to us and this is where we find a little bit of difficulty in arriving at good projects with Japan and the second important thing which keeps which has got to be kept in mind is the language you see the Japanese language for Indian Jaws is rather very difficult and we find it much easier to handle the Anglo-Saxon languages then Japanese so that also works as a handicap.