Press Secretary to President (Shri Venu Rajamony):Good morning friends. As is customary, the President will bring out some opening remarks first and then receive questions from all of you.
President of India (Shri Pranab Mukherjee): Friends, I have just concluded a very satisfying visit to the Kingdom of Belgium. The warmth of the reception and the meticulous attention given by the Government of Belgium to every aspect of my programme reflected the strength of our bilateral relationship with Belgium.
As a rare gesture the King received me at the airport, which is an expression of special interest in India developed over the years through his numerous visits to India. His exceptional affinity and deep knowledge about India and our culture were reflected in his address at the lunch hosted by him in my honour.
In my meeting with His Majesty King Philippe, and the Prime Minister, His Excellency Elio Di Rupo, we recognised the depth of our bilateral, political and economic relations. Both leaders emphasised the importance that Belgium attaches to its relations with India.
They reiterated their support for reform of the United Nations institutions and for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council. Belgium has also supported our efforts for developing civil nuclear cooperation.
Our economic partnership with Belgium is of particular importance as it has emerged as India’s second largest trading partner within European Union. We discussed a number of important areas of economic cooperation including some in the pipeline.
We noted our important joint efforts in development and modernisation of India’s railway sector, cooperation in nuclear waste management and in science and technology.
We identified possibilities of extending the existing cooperation between port authorities of our countries to more advanced areas of port management. In this aspect we noted the commonality between the riverine ports of Antwerp and Kolkata which could be exploited through bilateral cooperation.
Belgium has expertise in some niche areas which are priority sectors for India. I asked the Belgian leaders to encourage enhanced investment in India particularly in sectors such as ports, roads, railways, clean technology, aerospace, and pharmaceuticals.
I have always placed emphasis on improving the quality of higher education in our country promoting collaborations to strengthen research infrastructure in India and to encourage innovation in our academic institutions. Belgium has world renowned academic infrastructure in higher education, especially innovation.
In the view of the benefits to India from enhanced academic cooperation, a high-level academic delegation of some of the top Indian universities accompanied me during the visit – Chairman UGC; Vice-Chancellors of Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Hyderabad University; and Director-General for Media and Governance, Jamia Millia University. I am particularly satisfied with the conclusion of the five agreements between universities of India and Belgium and am confident that it will give an impetus to research and innovation in both the countries.
I am confident that our interactions during my visit would further enhance our bilateral engagements. Princess Astrid of Belgium will lead one of Belgium’s largest economic missions to India in November this year. We greatly look forward to the visit.
It was a great pleasure to inaugurate jointly with His Majesty King Philippe the Europalia India festival which is the largest Indian cultural festival outside India in recent years. By showcasing the various forms of our art and culture over the next four months, Europalia India will enable the people of Europe glimpse into our past through our present. More importantly, it will offer a window into our future.
India, a relatively young nation of a billion plus people confidently forging into future, is striving to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth. The potential benefit of cooperation between India and Europe is tremendous and I am confident that Europalia India will unleash a necessary energy to exploit it.
During my talks with the leaders of Belgium I was assisted by Minister. Vasan, Members of Parliament who are accompanying me, and also senior officials of the Ministry and our Embassy.
Thank you.
Press Secretary to President:
Questions please!
President of India: Confine your questions to the statement. If you go outside, I would not be able to…(Inaudible)…
Question:Excellency, you had extremely successful and useful discussions with the King and the Prime Minister in Brussels. What is the specific outcome of these discussions for the country, especially with regard to bringing investment from Belgium to India?
President of India: Belgium has certain specialisations. I have given some instances. And Belgium’s cooperative…(Inaudible)… can be ascertained. It was one of the first countries after signing the civil nuclear cooperation agreement with USA when we had to have the waiver at Nuclear Suppliers Group, Belgium was one of the countries which extended its cooperation. Therefore, it would be very useful for us if we can build up collaboration with them in managing the nuclear waste which is a major problem to all the nuclear power countries.
Question:Sir, you spoke about the riverine port management. What would be the roadmap for the two governments now? What would be the ideal timeframe where some kind of bilateral cooperation can be achieved?
President of India: Already some steps have been taken by Shipping Minister Shri Vasan. And since last year, all officers of the Kolkata Port are being trained in Antwerp by their counterparts. So, cooperation is all being built up. The basic problem of the riverine port is siltation and how to de-silt it and how to make it operational, so that larger ships can come in.
Question:Sir, there is a lot of worry about the United States Government which is in a crisis over debt ceiling and there could be a huge spill over, many commentators have expressed it, on India and other parts of the world. Considering that you have spoken about the economic crisis and the fact that we have not fully come out of the crisis, which you said in your interview to Euronews yesterday, did you discuss with the Prime Minister about the prospect of the impact of this US crisis on Europe and on India?
President of India: Generally US economy has its influence over the world economy as it is the most powerful economy of the world. But on thisparticular issue the proper response should come from thePrime Ministerand the Finance Minister, not from me. How they are going to handle it, what is their assessment of the situation, how far they consider gravity of the situation, it is for thePrime Ministerand the Finance Minister to respond.
In general terms I can say that we would like to have economic recovery faster. But surely in a globalised economy like ours it does not depend simply on our efforts; the external environment should also be conducive.
Question:Sir, you said I should not divert from the Belgium thing but there is one question that relates to you. Back home Opposition says that the Ordinance on convicted MPs and MLAs was withdrawn because of you and not because of Rahul Gandhi.
President of India:I cannot comment on the views of the Opposition. Whoever wanted to seek appointment with me I gave them. BJP leaders met me; Aam Aadmi Party leaders met me; I received various representations; I had a discussion with thePrime Minister. And what transpired, every one of you know it. Cabinet is the mother of the Ordinance, and the Cabinet in its meeting, which took place on 2nd of October in the evening, decided to withdraw the Ordinance. So, this is the fact. In between who is responsible, how responsible, to what extent responsible, these are all speculations of individuals. I have nothing to do with it.
Question:Sir, during your visit to Belgium, was there a sense of a consciousness among the Belgian Government and the European community that India is beset by terrorism and the new thing one is talking about strengthening ties, relations. In this area, what can be the level of cooperation?
President of India: Most of the European countries and Euro itself they are signatories to the United Nations resolutions to fight against terrorism. So, there is a commonality in the ground. And in the bilateral discussions also we emphasised on it. And everybody condemns terrorism.
Question:Mr. President, a recent survey has shown that Indian universities are match to the world universities as such. So, we have had here a number of educational agreements. Do you think that will help us improve our standard and overall performance?
President of India: In various aspects that is why I brought the experts here. Otherwise also our universities are having contacts with their counterparts in the advanced countries. Therefore, these various aspects of higher education are discussed among themselves including the exchange programme to explore the possibility of e-lecturing through the technological instrumentality which is available to us and to those countries. All these aspects are being discussed. The basic approach is that there should be share of information, exchange of views in the areas of research and innovation if we want to build up the knowledge-based economy and society.
Question:Mr. President, at the farewell lunch that the King gave to you yesterday he made a reference to you as a consensus builder in India. Was he alluding to your possible role that you might to be asked upon to play in a post-election scenario in India?
President of India: Hold on! Do not bring those issues! What he talked of, I presume because I do not know what he was going to say in the luncheon meeting, perhaps what he said is about the role I played as Leader of House and as a leader of the Government in running the coalition government. So, let us confine it to that. But that chapter is over on 25thJune, 2012 when I resigned from the Government, and on 25th July when my membership of Parliament was over. Now I am the Constitutional head, and my duties are completely determined by the Constitution.
Thank you.
(Concluded)
