Reforms only option, says Sonia

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 29. The Leader of the Opposition and Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has said that while compulsion might have triggered economic reforms in India, conviction was sustaining them and there was no alternative but to pursue the reform route while simultaneously strengthening the capacity of the state to spur social and economic change.

Addressing a luncheon meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here today, Ms. Gandhi said in India ``the pace of change has to be commensurate with our ability to manage the risks of the transition,'' and referred to the pressure to make the rupee fully convertible on the Capital account and what followed thereafter. ``The East Asian financial crisis bore out the wisdom of that caution,'' she said.

With a main architect of economic reforms, Dr. Manmohan Singh, seated nearby, Ms. Gandhi said there was still a crucial role for Government investment in the physical and social infrastructure and development of the backward areas. ``Our myriad problems can be addressed only in the framework of a mixed economy with the ingredients of the mix reflecting changing imperatives. There is no one single magic mantra,'' she said.

Among those who attended the luncheon at the Ronald Reagan Building were senior executives of industry and commerce, senior officials of the Bush administration, including from the State Department and the National Security Council, and Senator Sam Brownback, Republican from Kansas and a leading figure on Capitol Hill who has been trying to get rid of sanctions against India. Mr. Brownback, in his brief introductory remarks, once again called for an end to the punitive measures. ``Let us do it now,'' he said.

Ms. Gandhi talked about her vision and perceptions of economic reforms, problems facing the developing countries in global integration, the concept of free and fair trade and the special interests and commitments of India in the emerging scheme of things. She also commented on the situation in South Asia.

``It worries us that countries (which) claim to be committed to a rule-bound multilateral system of free and fair trade, in practice, still cling to bilateral punitive instruments. It is also of concern to us that non-trade issues are increasingly getting intertwined with trade negotiations.

Child labour is a scourge, but it has to be eliminated through education, through social development, through anti-poverty programmes and not by fiat,'' Ms. Gandhi said.

``President Bush has already spoken about his commitment to multilateral trade negotiations. Just as America pursues bilateral and regional trade agreements, India looks forward to working with the U.S. to multiply bilateral trade and to ensure that WTO and other international financial institutions fulfill the developmental aspirations of poor nations.''

On South Asia, Ms. Gandhi said there was need for India and Pakistan to arrive at a set of ``enforceable and verifiable confidence-building measures to minimise the risks of nuclear conflict. Trade and economic contacts between our two countries must expand.''

Demanding an end to the cross-border terrorism, Ms. Gandhi said the answer to the complex issue of Jammu and Kashmir would have to be found within the framework of electoral and multi-party democracy. ``Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and is vital for India's secular ethos,'' she said.

Ms. Gandhi's address had its lighter moments when she talked about the Indo-U.S. relationship; from the vision born out of a shared commitment to representative democracy, preserving and protecting secular values to economic growth and social empowerment and the development of science and technology. ``And, of course, a vision born out of the fact that America enjoys the most favoured nation status among our educated youth.''

Speaking further on the expansion in the ``canvas of commonality,'' Ms. Gandhi pointed out that during the last U.S. Presidential election in November, many in India thought the country's expertise in electoral technology could be offered.

With California experiencing power cuts, India could offer expertise in managing the same; ``and with what is happening in Washington, our expertise in dealing with political defections,'' she said in a reference to the recent switching of Mr. James Jeffords from Republican to an Independent.

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