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Manmohan: 8-9% growth sustainable

On Board PM’s Aircraft: Notwithstanding the uncertainty surrounding the global economic recovery, India should be able to sustain an 8 to 9 per cent GDP growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday.

He was confident that India would come out of this crisis stronger, but the road ahead was also going to be difficult to traverse, Dr. Singh told reporters accompanying him on his way back home from a four-day visit to Italy.

He said he had had discussions with the leaders of G-8 and G-5, Egypt and African countries. “After our discussions, it is my sense that while there are some signs of recovery, the world economy is still a long way from recovering the earlier growth momentum and there must be questions whether that will soon be possible for the global economy,” he said.

He said there was growing support for the demand for reforms of the global governance institutions.

It should start with the reform of the U.N. Security Council. Dr. Singh said there was a growing support for the view that the Security Council membership should be enlarged, both in the permanent category and in the non-permanent category in which India had a rightful claim to be a member.

But, he said, international relations in the final sense were power relations. “And nobody gives up power willingly. Those who have the power want to hold on. So I don’t think an easy solution is in sight.”

Talks with ISI chief

There were difficulties in dealing with Pakistan, but he had not “given up,” Dr. Singh said.

He disclosed that representatives of the two countries, including the ISI chief, were involved in discussions recently.

The Prime Minister gave no indication of how and with whom from the Indian side the ISI chief Ahmed Shuja Pasha held discussions. — PTI

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