India and China have the potential to be the engines of the
world economy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said here
Thursday.
"In the years to come, India and China will be viewed as the new
growth engines of the world economy. We are not yet there, but we
will be," Singh said at the release of a book, Business Standard
India 2008, at his official residence in New Delhi.
"We can certainly sustain much better domestic performance based
on our own effort and potential. Our macro-economic policies are
aimed at ensuring this," he said, adding that the "challenge before
us today is also to get the politics right".
Asserting the government's commitment to ensure the uncertainty
in the global system would not harm the growth of Indian economy,
Manmohan Singh said India's large continental economy can sustain
fairly high rates of growth based on the stable and sustained
growth of the home market, even if there is turbulence in the
global market.
Cautioning that the country cannot take the economic success for
granted, the prime minister said the government needed to pursue
sound macro-economic policies designed to raise savings, investment
and productivity.
Singh, who appreciated the business daily Business
Standard's new initiative, said there was a growing interest in
the Indian story.
"The India story is not just about economic growth and business
outcomes. It is also about social change, social mobility and the
political empowerment of more than a billion people. The saga of
over a billion people, seeking their social and economic salvation
through the framework of a plural democracy is without doubt one of
the most uplifting stories of our times," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2008)
