ID :
13404
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 20:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/13404
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Some people not for India to catch up with China: FM on Left
New Delhi, July 22 (PTI) Virtually slamming the Left parties, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today said "somepeople" do not want India to catch up with China.
"There are some people in the country who do not want India to catch up with China...They do not want India to be ahead of China," Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha defendingthe Indo-US nuclear deal.
Harvard-educated Finance Minister was provoked by members of the Left parties when they questioned him as to whyhe was drawing a comparison with India with China.
Amidst noisy scenes created by the targeted Left parties, Chidambaram said, "Some people want China to become economicsuper power..".
Chidambaram said he wants India to emulate China without envying the neighbouring country. "I have no hesitation in saying that I do not want to envy China...I want to emulate China...I want India to become an economic power and economicsuper power".
He said a country as large as India should be compared with China. "When we talk about India, we should talk about countries which are as large and as complex as India and that is China...We cannot talk about countries which are smallerthan India and poorer than India,".
The Finance Minister said China, which draws only two per- cent of its energy requirements from the nuclear sources, has mega plans to augment its atomic reactors. By 2020, China wants to build 50,000 MW capacity for nuclear energy and itplans to take it further to 1,20,000-1,60,000 by 2030.
Chidambaram said the U.P.A. Government has only taken the "dialogue" of the previous National Democratic Alliance (N.D.A.) Government further. This is because of a question,"Dowe want to come out of nuclear isolation," he asked.
Chidambaram said while the N.D.A. wanted India's nuclear isolation to end, "no one is clear about the stand of the Left parties." Still both the parties would be voting against the motionof confidence, he said.
"I doubt if in the history of India's Parliament anything more bizarre has happened than these two groups votingtogether," he remarked.
Elaborating on the inherent contradictions between the Left and Right, he said though the N.D.A. has no problem with the strategic relationship with the US, "the Left parties are ideologically opposed to any partnership, strategic or otherwise, with the US." Besides praising Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi, Chidambaram also recalled the contribution of former PrimeMinister Narsimha Rao for strengthening the nation.
Drawing parallels between the economies of the two countries, the Finance Minister said China produces 419 million tonnes of steel, while India's capacity is only toproduce 44 million tones.
He reminded the Left parties that China was producing 2482 million tonnes of coal against 427 million tonnes produced by India. Similarly, the electricity production inChina was four times of India.
"There are some people in the country who do not want India to catch up with China...They do not want India to be ahead of China," Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha defendingthe Indo-US nuclear deal.
Harvard-educated Finance Minister was provoked by members of the Left parties when they questioned him as to whyhe was drawing a comparison with India with China.
Amidst noisy scenes created by the targeted Left parties, Chidambaram said, "Some people want China to become economicsuper power..".
Chidambaram said he wants India to emulate China without envying the neighbouring country. "I have no hesitation in saying that I do not want to envy China...I want to emulate China...I want India to become an economic power and economicsuper power".
He said a country as large as India should be compared with China. "When we talk about India, we should talk about countries which are as large and as complex as India and that is China...We cannot talk about countries which are smallerthan India and poorer than India,".
The Finance Minister said China, which draws only two per- cent of its energy requirements from the nuclear sources, has mega plans to augment its atomic reactors. By 2020, China wants to build 50,000 MW capacity for nuclear energy and itplans to take it further to 1,20,000-1,60,000 by 2030.
Chidambaram said the U.P.A. Government has only taken the "dialogue" of the previous National Democratic Alliance (N.D.A.) Government further. This is because of a question,"Dowe want to come out of nuclear isolation," he asked.
Chidambaram said while the N.D.A. wanted India's nuclear isolation to end, "no one is clear about the stand of the Left parties." Still both the parties would be voting against the motionof confidence, he said.
"I doubt if in the history of India's Parliament anything more bizarre has happened than these two groups votingtogether," he remarked.
Elaborating on the inherent contradictions between the Left and Right, he said though the N.D.A. has no problem with the strategic relationship with the US, "the Left parties are ideologically opposed to any partnership, strategic or otherwise, with the US." Besides praising Congress leader Rajiv Gandhi, Chidambaram also recalled the contribution of former PrimeMinister Narsimha Rao for strengthening the nation.
Drawing parallels between the economies of the two countries, the Finance Minister said China produces 419 million tonnes of steel, while India's capacity is only toproduce 44 million tones.
He reminded the Left parties that China was producing 2482 million tonnes of coal against 427 million tonnes produced by India. Similarly, the electricity production inChina was four times of India.
