The Hindu : FICCI clarification

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 03, 2003

National

National

FICCI clarification

Amit Mitra, Secretary-General, FICCI, writes:

I read the article by Mr. Kuldip Nayar "Why Modi drew a blank" (May 2). The meeting he refers to in the article was organised by FICCI for the Chief Minister to meet diplomats from select countries and also interact with CEOs from global as well as Indian companies who have large investments in Gujarat or are planning to make investments in the State.

I would only like to correct a factual error in Mr. Nayar's article which stated "Mr. Modi drew a blank at a meeting of envoys to attract foreign investments." The interactive meeting had 34 diplomats, including top functionaries of the missions from Australia, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Algeria, Indonesia, Israel, Republic of Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, Japan, Kuwait, Morocco, Serbia and Montenegro, Netherlands, the Russian Federations, South Africa, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, Slovenia, Thailand, Tanzania and Vietnam.

I am hoping the readers of a prestigious paper like yours, which we all have grown to rely on for accuracy and clarity, must know of the real fact. While Mr. Nayar is obviously free to hold any opinion on any issue in a great democracy like ours, your esteemed readers also have the right to know the exact fact of the matter.