India’s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh inaugurated the Fortune Global Forum in New Delhi on 29/10/07. He drew analogies between international trade in goods and services and climate change issues.
"What the world needs today is a new concord between private enterprise and public welfare. How do we maintain the required incentive mechanisms that encourage private initiative and enterprise, while at the same time ensure that public welfare is also enhanced? This dilemma poses itself most obviously in the field of health care. The policies we require to incentivise new R&D must be balanced against the need to ensure availability of medicines at affordable prices to the world's people.
There are similar trade-offs we need to reflect on when we consider the problem of climate change, global warming, ecological degradation and environment policies. The developing world will continue to see per capita consumption of CO2 emissions rising in the foreseeable future. This will exert pressure on global resources. How do we balance the aspirations of the world's poor against our shared concern about the sustainability of the growth process?
Let me assure you that we in India are deeply and sincerely committed to the protection of our environment because we all share a single global environment. The Indian approach to climate change and global warming derives from the ancient Hindu saying - vasudhaiva kutumbakam - "the whole universe is one family".
As I had said at the G8 Summit some months ago in Germany, India accepts its global responsibilities. We are willing to accept the obligation that our per capita emissions of CO2 will never exceed the per capita emissions of developed countries. If developed countries succeed in reducing their per capita emissions, this would exert pressure and will be a source of incentive for all of us as well.
Whether it is on trade policy or on climate change, or indeed on any other international obligation, India has always worked with the global community. Moreover, India has never reneged on its international commitments. India has been a reliable partner, a responsible global citizen. India respects the rule of law in international relations. India is, therefore, a predictable partner. This is what makes India an attractive destination for investors like you. "
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