Under Secretary (XP): A very Good Morning to all of you and welcome onboard on what is the first ever Vice Presidential visit to Peru and Cuba. Hon’ble Vice President has kindly agreed to interact with you. As is the practice he will first make his opening remarks following which he will take a few questions.
Vice President: Thank you every one, I think you have the minutes already. Let me stat with the good news we have 44 hours of flying ahead of us, in three to four segments. I am sure Air India would take good care of every one. At this stage I am not sure what I should be saying. These are two countries far away from India but neverthless important countries. Peru on the west coast of South America, is increasingly a major factor in global economy, I think it is somewhere 5th or 6th in terms of its GDP growth rates and other things, and an important source of minerals, something that we are looking at very closely.
That is one, the other is Cuba, a very well know country in India, long years of association with us on the Non-Aligned front, on the third world agenda front and innumerable political matters. So I am myself surprised that we have had so few high lever visits, of course Prime Minister had been there recently though it was for an international conference – the Non Aligned conference. But Cuba is a particularly friendly country and we have had very warm and very cordial relations with Cuba. Its also in many ways unique, in the sense that it has sailed its craft in adverse weather for a very very long time but it speaks volume for their skills that they have not only survived , they have done well. They have certain niche areas of competence which are of relevance to us . They have done some excellent work in sports medicines, general areas of medicine, bio technology, in numerable things but I am also waiting to educate myself on these things. This is broadly the agenda.
We are making a stopover in Frankfurt which is obligatory in technical terms. The plane cannot fly the entire distance, the crew must take the obligatory rest time. On the way back we are stopping over in London. Again it’s a stop over but I had a long pending invitation from a Centre in Oxford to give a lecture there. So I am using this occasion to fulfill that obligation. That is it, I don’t think I have anything more to say at this stage.
Question: Your Excellency, is this a routine diplomatic visit or is there any specific agenda you are carrying so far.
Vice President: Dekhiye, all visits are specific visits. Diplomacy is only the instrument or the vehicle in which you do it. This is a normal thing but we have to realize one thing increasingly, we are living in a world which is contracting. There is no such thing as a far off country. Economically South America is as relevant to us as once upon a time Australia used to be relevant or irrelevant. I remember when I went to Australia as High Commissioner in the beginning of 1985, a very distinguished predecessor left a note for me. It said ‘there is neither substance nor prospect in the relationship, enjoy your stay’! Well nobody will agree to it today, even I did not agree to it after a few months there. So every country has a potential of being a partner in cooperation and that is true of Caribbean countries, that is true of South American countries. And last but not the least, every sixth person on the globe is an Indian and no matter where you go you will find an Indian community and touching base with them, establishing contacts with them, I think, has become part of the national agenda. So in each one of these places we will come across Indian communities, some of them are even Indian business communities which shows that the potential for business is being explored very seriously.
Question: Sir, jab Government ka jyada tar focus ‘Look East policy’ ki taraf hai, us samay Latin America deshon ka daura karna, kyaa message hai aur kya purpose hai?
Vice President: Dekhiye, ‘Look East’ ka yeh matlab nahi hai ki you don’t look West, you don’t look North, you don’t look South. ‘Look East’ was a specific instrument grafted to take advantage of a situation which was emerging in South East Asia, where we had very old ancient relationships but the idea was to give it new content. And those of you who were with me on the visit to Vietnam, I mean, at one stage the relationship with Vietnam were purely political. Today Vietnam is a vibrant business centre where Indian business community is doing well. Same holds for Singapore, same holds for Thailand and same for Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines. So there is no such thing as a one track focus. As a major country and as a major economy we will look at all corners of the world and we are very clear why we are looking at all corners of the world, whether it is the west coast of Canada or the west coast of South America.
Question: Latin America and Caribbean region is emerging as important region is the world and also an arena of competition for emerging Asian powers. How do you see our engagements in the region and what is distinctive about our engagement in the region and what are the key decisions that you foresee will accelerate this engagement?
Vice President: You see the reasons of engagements are multiple, there is not one reason for engagement. These are big countries; some of them are huge economies. I mean we think South America is a small place but if you just look at the size and distances, one of the biggest countries in the world is Brazil – look at the map, just see the size of Brazil, the resources of Brazil; same holds for Argentina. On the west coast, Chile – a major source of minerals of various kinds; Peru again same; Venezuela – a major oil producing country. So in each one of these countries there is political engagement because they are important members of the international community, there is economic engagement. With many of them there is either BRICS or Non Aligned engagement. So it’s all of a comprehensive basket of considerations
Question: Yeh jo aapki visit hai usme kya jo United Nations ka restructuring hona hai, Security Council mei India ko support ki jaroort hai, is mudde ko kya aap utayenge. Doosra, yeh jo Peru, Cuba desh hain, unke saath pandra saal baad aap ja rahe hai, ek high level visit ho raha hai. To unke saaath kya hum aur sambandh badane ki jarroorat mehsoos karte hain kya, high lever visits
ki frequency aur badhe.
Vice President: Do batein. Pehli cheez, UN ki restructuring apne desh ka agenda bahut consistent raha hai, yeh aaj ka agenda nahi hai yeh bahut saalon se chal raha hai. Jahan humjaate hain wahan hum uski baat karte hain isliye ki humko yeh poora yakin hai ki aaj ke United Nations, jo ki 1945 me bana tha, aaj kal ke requirements ke liye inadequate hai. Roz jo major political situation duniya me develop hoti hai usme yeh cheez khul ke samne aa jaati hai. So UN (reform) is an ongoing exercise. Who aaj nahi hoga, kal nahio hoga islieye ki jin logon ke paas power hai wo asaani se apni position se piche nahi hateinge. Magar, its a process jisko humko jaari rakhna hai aur hum jaari rakh rahe hain .
Apka doosra sawal tha ki itne dino baad kyun vist hai. Bhai dekhiye sarkar ke paas bahut se kaam hote hain. Visit ka yeh matlab nahi hai ki sirf Rashtrpati ji jaayen, ya Pradhanmangtri jaayen, ya main jaun, ya Videsh Mantri jaayen. Council of Ministers mein, depending on the occasion, Ministers are always visiting countries of interest.
Kahin per Commerce Minster jaate hain, kahin per Finance Minister jaate hain, HRD Minister jaate hain, Science and Technology Minister jaate hain, kahin par
terrorism ka maamla aaye to Griha Mantri ji jaate hain . Tho yeh tho regular
activity hai. Yeh top level visits ke liye thoda kaam jyada karna padta hai, doosron ki
convenience leni hoti hai. Mein kahun ki mein inn dates per aa raha hoon aur aap kahiye ki yeh
dates mujhe convenient nahi hai. Videsh Mantralaya me pooch lijiye, roz yehi kaam hota hai. Kisko kahan
accommodate karma hai, kaise karma hai. Har desh ki apni
priorities hothi hain. Agar aapko saal me dus senior dignitaries ko bulana hai, to kaun se
senior 10 dignitaries hongey balance bhi rakhna hota hai. Sab ek desh se nahi aa sakte, ek
region se nahi aa sakte, uski wajah se yeh jo gaps hote hain, yeh
unavoidable hain. Yeh sirf hamare saath nahi hai, yeh saari deshonke ke saath yehi
problem hai.
Question: Sir, in your times in Foreign Ministry, the emphasis of diplomacy was more ideological, political and now it’s more economics & trade. China seems to have stolen the march. What your advice will be on how to counter balance this situation. Second question, we would like you to share your memories of your meeting with Fidel Castro when he came here for NAM in 1983.
Vice President Well I am not in agreement with your first question. Our thrust in diplomacy was always comprehensive. It was political, it was economic. The question was our requirements and our capabilities. 1947
me hamaare requirements doosre the. Agar aap 15 August 1947
ka koyi akhbaar utha ke dekh lein to usme jo aur badi khabre thi uske saath saath yeh khabar bhi hai ke ‘food ship arrives’.
Woh ek stage tha jab hamare paas itna dana nahi paida hota tha – us waqt ki kya population thi 370 million, ab ki kya population hai.
Tho jo requirements badalte rehte hain, apne jo requirements they 60s mein, 70s mein, 80s mein, woh doosri tarah ke they aur usi hisaab se niti banti aur adjust hoti rahti thi. Ab ke requirement bilkul doosre hain, hamari capabilities bahot bhad gayi hain tho hamara engagements jyada bhad gaye hai.
Aapka doosra sawal tha President Castro ka. President Castro was the star of the conference in 1983 because he was the outgoing Chairman of the NAM. And therefore all importance had to be given but Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, I was working in Ministry of External Affairs then, her instructions were very specific, whatever his requirements may be, they all have to be looked at very carefully and considerately. He was a personality in his own right, remains a personality in his now right.
Question: My question is that the countries you are visiting are culturally very rich and so is our country, India. So do you think …(inaudible)…… to connect these countries culturally. What is the idea?
Vice President: No, the cultural agenda has always been the principal item in the external relations of India. Because we have much to share with the world and other countries are very happy to share our cultural repertoire with them. So that is one side of it, economic engagement is on the other side of it, political engagement is the third side of it. They don’t overlap, they don’t contradict. On the contrary they are mutually supportive. If we can back up our economic effort with cultural effort, which is in today’s terminology called as soft power, so much the better. We had lot of it. Similarly with political, if there is convergence of views, it helps bring economic relations together. I mean each one of these streams are not contradictory, they are mutually supportive. What takes precedence at a point of time is a matter of situational adjustment.
Question: Sir, Specific kya koi trade sector par hum dekh rahe hain inn Latin American countries mein?
Vice President: Dekhiye jyada details to mai bhi talaash karoonga, Raajdoot se
briefing loonga. Magar mera general impression yeh hai ki hamaari economy ko resources ki bahut jaroort hai. Aur aap yeh dekhenge ki South America mein, OVL, which is our flagship carrier in the energy areas, is extensively involved. It is involved in Venezuela, it is involved in Cuba, it is involved in Mexico. Similarly our companies which are looking for mineral products are involved. I know in Chile, in Peru, may be some other countries. There are a whole range of other products which we are importing including some agricultural products from South American countries. I remember a long time back the President of Mexico was visiting India, there is a particular tree which is found in Mexico which grows very quickly and our agricultural scientists had concluded that if you can get that kind of sampling here it would be very beneficial in our afforestation programs. So Prime Minister Indira Gandhi made a specific request to the President to bring some saplings. And he did bring the samplings.
Under Secretary (XP): With that we come to the end of this interaction. Thank you all.
Vice President: Well ladies and gentleman, enjoy your flight, enjoy the stop over in Germany. Thank you.
*(Text in italics – transliterated from Hindi)
On board
October 25, 2013
