Jose Manual Barroso (President, European Commission): Let me begin by joining Prime Minister Blair saying how grateful we are for the hospitality of Prime Minister Singh and all the Indian authorities.
It was indeed a very successful summit. Apart from the concrete conclusions, I can tell that I found the exchange of views very informal and very substantive. It is good that we can discuss in this spirit very important issues, global issues, between India and the European Union.
I am sure that one of the reasons why this happens that way is because we share common values – democracy, pluralism, human rights and rule of law. European Union and India share the same values. We should work closer when it comes to our interests to make not only the values but interests as common as possible. That is exactly what happened now in this Action Plan. The Action Plan tries to translate in practical terms, in implementation terms, the goodwill that we know exists between India and Europe to give concrete shape to this strategic partnership that now we have between European Union and India.
Prime Minister Blair has already highlighted the most important aspects. I will not repeat what he said. Let me just add one point. It is the cultural and the academic chapter – we have a political chapter, economic policy chapter, the trade and investment chapter, but I think (we should) also underline the cultural and academic chapter which builds upon the 2004 European Union-India Cultural Declaration. There would be the establishment of European Union Study Centres in India and vice versa. There will be, as Prime Minister Singh just mentioned, increased participation of India in Erasmus Mundus programme, a programme for students from India going to Europe. There will be strengthened exchanges between civil society organisations and think-tanks and also a dialogue between the audio-visual industries.
It was also important in concrete terms, the decision to go ahead with participation of India in the Galileo programme, and also the support that European Union gives to India as member of the ITER where India can bring the knowledge it has in fusion technology, also today’s very important global project in the field of science and technology. I believe those were the main aspects of a very successful summit. Once again on behalf of the European Commission, thank you Prime Minister Singh. Thank you to all the Indian authorities for the commitment, engagement that you have put in this very important summit.
Question : I would like to ask a question on the United Nations Summit that is taking place next week. I would like to ask President Barroso if he has offered a view of the Commission to the candidature of India for a permanent seat at the Security Council. Perhaps Mr. Blair, as the Council President, would also offer a view.
Prime Minister Singh, I would like to ask that since there is strong opposition from the United States and China to accept the proposal that India together with Brazil, Germany and Japan has permanent seats in the UN Security Council. What would be Indian reaction if that was refused?
Jose Manual Barroso: About the United Nations seats, the President of the Council, Prime Minister Blair can answer though that is not from a technical point of view, that is not the competence of the European Commission, it is an inter-Governmental question. Anyway, like we highlight from our perspective of the European Commission, we should not reduce this very important summit of United Nations to the Security Council Reform. Security Council Reform is a very important issue but there are other issues – Millennium Development Goals where, by the way, European Union committed a very important effort. We announced recently, and we have also made an announcement in Gleneagles – the doubling of our overseas development aid. There is also all matters relating to climate change and there are many other issues that are important in this summit. But, of course, the Security Council Reform is a specific one. That has to do more with the diplomacy and the role of individual member-States. The truth is, as you know, we do not have a common position. Our 25 member-states do not have a common position on that matter. But, maybe, Prime Minister Blair wants to respond.
Tony Blair: As President Barroso has just said, there is no common European Union position. Obviously, UK’s position has been the strongest supporter of India. I would just make one comment in addition to saying that President Barroso is absolutely right that all the focus should simply be on this issue. There are really important matters, not least the issues of terrorism, that we need to discuss next week at the summit and also the Millennium Development Goals and tackling global poverty and so on. However, it seems to me very clear if we want effective multilateral institutions, then those effective multilateral institutions have got to take account of the world as it is today and not the world as it was. That is why it is important I think, however long it takes - and maybe it is not possible to reach a consensus at the moment – that there is a reform of the Security Council at some stage because plainly it does not correspond to the modern realities.
Manmohan Singh: I was asked the question about the opposition to India’s membership of the Security Council. It is a fact that some countries are not in favour of the G-4 Resolution that we sponsored. But, I have also been assured that their opposition to the G-4 Resolution does not necessarily imply opposition to India’s claims and India’s place on the expanded Security Council. So, we have not given up and I sincerely hope that we can still sort out this issue.
Question : This is a question to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Sir, could you elaborate on the extent of Indian participation in Galileo? Have we put in some equity? If so, how much?
Advertisement
Manmohan Singh: I will ask Space Secretary to tell you what is our equity in the Galileo project.
Indian Space Secretary: At the moment we have signed a Framework Agreement which enables us to discuss the details of the participation. The amount of the equity will be decided based on the extent of participation. We have projected the technical strength of India in the space research areas. This dialogue will continue. At the end of that only we will be arriving at these figures.
Question: Prime Minister, to some extent this trip has been a bit of a window into the future. Can you just explain to us a little more what role you think India plays or should play economically and strategically in the future, basically in relation to China? Though China’s arguments provide isn’t moving faster towards democracy look lame, the moment you land here and realize this is a functioning democracy of a billion people and has been for more than fifty years?
Tony Blair: Well, I think the extraordinary thing about India is that with all the problems of development and progress that it faces, it is a democracy, it abides by the rule of law, its people decide their Government and that is a tremendous example to the whole of the world. I think you are right in saying in a sense the this is China to India is window to the future. The world is changing very very fast. But in respect of India, there is no doubt at all as the economy of India continues to grow, and as India necessarily plays an ever-increasing role on the world stage, then the right relationship, not just between the UK and India but between Europe and India is vital. And there is none of the big - when we were going through all the major issues we faced in the discussion earlier, there is none of those issues, not counter-terrorism, not world trade, not the ability to tackle issues to do with climate change, none of those questions can satisfactorily be resolve or confronted without the active participation and engagement of India. And therefore, what is happening in a world that is increasingly inter-dependant, where the force of globalisation is just creating change in an immensely rapid rate is that a country like India is, as I say, not emerging economically but emerging politically and the rest of the world has got to enter into the right and equal partnership with India for mutual benefit. And that is what is happening.
The fact that India also as a country with these problems of development, with this huge population here is able to be a proper functioning democracy is a tremendous thing. One of the Ministers was saying to us earlier that, I think, forgive me if I am wrong about this, 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 25. That kind of made us Europeans reflect a little bit on the changing nature of the world that we face. If you take some of the major ….. that there are more Engineering Graduates now being produced in India than I think in virtually the whole of the European Union. So, this is change that is going to affect the lives of all our citizens not just in Britain but in the whole of Europe. So, to come here and to have a good and strong engagement and work out how we can meet these challenges together, this is an essential part of safeguarding the interests of our own citizens today.
Question: Both India and the European Union appear to be concerned about terrorism. India has concerns about infiltration from the Pakistani side. The UK Government too had expressed concerns about the role of Pakistan, especially some of the British citizens who had gone to Pakistan. At the present moment do you see any role for the international community as a whole in addressing this problem which exists and which apparently has roots in Pakistan?
Tony Blair: Obviously there are issues that India and Pakistan have got to resolve together. But let me make just one thing very clear. I think the mood in the whole of the international community has changed dramatically on this subject in the past few years. There is absolutely no justification or excuse for terrorism, for innocent people being killed in cold blood, or for anybody giving support or succour of whatever nature to people carrying out such acts of terrorism. The way to resolve difficult issues today is through patient discussion and negotiation, it is not through terrorism. I cannot think of a single issue anywhere in the world where terrorism does not make the situation worse rather than better, where it creates hatred and division, where it produces despair amongst people, where it stops people being able to have the dialogue necessary to resolve problems. I do not think that there is any doubt or question in anyone’s mind.
Again here, India has obviously had to suffer the consequences of terrorism but also, as we were talking about earlier in our discussion, India is a country in which people from different faiths cooperate and live together. And so, there is a message there for the wider world.
