Book launch: India’s Century

Speaker: Mr Kamal Nath, Minister of Commerce and Industry, India.

Date: Friday, 4th April 2008

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Lecture Synopsis

by Panos Vrahiotis

In an hour long talk sprinkled with great doses of panache and humour, Mr Kamal Nath, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, launched his new book entitled ‘India’s Century’ at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Minister Nath addressed an audience of over 200 people at the school which included students, academics, policymakers, diplomats and business leaders. He spoke passionately and candidly about India’s journey and his attempt to encapsulate this nation’s growth story.

Offering a riveting blend of narrative, history, analysis, and reflection, Minister Nath’s book tells the story of India’s journey to its present status - as a formidable and people embracing entrepreneurial democracy. The Indian Minister relates stories in his book of his negotiations with major national and international figures, providing guidelines for how foreign companies can do business with the 21st century's most important new democracy.

“My book encapsulates not only the aspirations of one man but also the vision of a nation as a whole,” he said. “I wanted to give a flavour which helps somebody understand the diverse flavours of India, and that while India is its tigers, its jungles, its forests, its deserts and as we say the Incredible India, India is also the credible India.”

The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy collaborated with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to organize the public lecture for Mr Nath. CII President Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal along with Mr Gopinath Pillai, Chairman of the Institute of South Asian Studies, participated in this stimulating and engaging panel which was moderated by Professor Tommy Koh, Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies.

“I am delighted to be here, at this great institution, a place which has a vision of the future, an institution which is now recognised the world over as an institution of excellence in governance.” said Minister Nath in his opening remarks.

Commenting on what inspired him to write the book, Minister Nath said that India is a nation of great diversity which has faced many challenges through the course of time, a majority of which he has been a witness. From the struggle for Independence, to the early years of reform, to the present day rise of a formidable nation that has developed into a global player, the country has been reborn in many avatars.

Minister Nath said that he believed he had a unique vision of India that he wanted to share with the world.

Representing the Chhindwara constituency of Madhya Pradesh, one of the poorest districts in the country, provided Minister Nath with insight and incentive to write a book about India from a different point of view. He said with a tinge of humor: “Politics in India is highly combative. It is the largest democracy and the loudest democracy. I told myself I would probably be killed for what I write! However, in India you will be killed not only for what you write but also what you don’t write.”

The Minister emphasised that his ambition was not to write a book that would simply be labeled as controversial or partisan. Instead, the objective was to illustrate how the years after India’s independence contributed to the present picture of a nation with many complexities. “On one hand we talk about this 8-9 percent growth but on the other, we forgot the 300 million people living on less than $1 a day,” he said.

Minister Nath recalled the time when his district related to the world solely through its demand for salt. He recalled: “There were no demands (apart from that) because they believed that all is God ordained. So people felt what the hell can Kamal Nath do for us? God wants it to be like this! A large part of the mythology of India is of things being God ordained. Now how do you govern a country and steer it towards growth, when people believe so much is God ordained?”

India confronted numerous obstacles after independence, stalling the reform process and in turn the creation of a democratic framework. “In the past we had no land records, we had the Maharajas, who had their own systems, their own kingdoms, and it was really that ethos of India, the ethos of tolerance that needed to be understood,” explained the Indian Minister. “That is the real story of India. The Indians are the most tolerant society in the world! My own district just wanted salt, they could not be bothered!”

During the reform process in 1991, Mr Nath served a term as Environment Minister of India. During his tenure he is credited with the development of the National Policy on Ecological Conservation and the Abatement of Pollution. Also, he made significant strides with respect to policy initiatives which included establishment of Environment Tribunals, introducing and conducting Environment Audit, using special measures for the protection and conservation of nature and wildlife.

Mr Nath recalled his visit to the United States in 1992 and the negative speculations surrounding India at the time ‘This cannot work, India will never make it!’ were some of the words he could remember. Adding to this, the Minister also recalled meeting with senior banking executives, some of whom were board members of US investment bank Bear Stearns. “They were telling us about financial best practices, until very recently. You know who has the sub-prime and who does not,” Mr. Nath said mockingly.

The rewards from the reform processes that India undertook in the past decade are finally beginning to show. The calibration of global practices and the engaging dialogue with the world have resulted to the growth of Indian Industry and a subsequent increase in trade relations.

In closing, Mr Nath said that the Singapore Cooperation was the largest agreement India had and therefore a very valuable one. He thanked Mr.Tommy Koh for contribution in helping out with the India - Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) of May 2003. Minister Nath remarked: “The India- Singapore cooperation acted as a learning curve for India and has contributed to valuable knowledge which will enable us in the materialisation of all future agreements.”