Need to sustain 8.5% growth rate for 13 years to catch up with China

India will have to sustain its current growth rate of 8.5 per cent over a period of 13 years to match Chinas per capita income.

India will have to sustain its current growth rate of 8.5 per cent over a period of 13 years to match Chinas per capita income. Pointing out that India and China are both emerging superpowers,Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,however,said that the two neighbours should stop competing with each other and instead concentrate on their own economic development.

India must sustain its growth over the next 20 to 25 years and establish its own economic identity. For this,India must follow and,if need be,accelerate policies to maintain its growth. Ahluwalia said at a lecture organised by CII and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy,Singapore on Saturday evening.

Delivering a lecture on Will India and China Grow Together or Grow Apart, Dean of Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Kishore Mahbubani said that while India and China are culturally very similar,India could become an instrument for western countries to try and thwart Chinas rise as an economic superpower.

If and when the West becomes apprehensive about Chinas economic development,it may not use the policy of containment and instead look for other options. The best possible method would be an ideological struggle regarding the lack of democracy in china. Here,they might try to rope in India, he said,adding Theres a lot of focus on India as its the second fastest growing economy.

Pointing out that it would be a very ironical situation if India and China allow geopolitical interests of other countries to influence their policies towards each other,Mehbubani said that the two neighbours can and must grow together.

India must maintain a middle position instead of becoming an instrument of the West against China. It would be in its best interest to stay away from this geopolitical struggle, he said.

Speaking on the occasion,National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon said that while India is very much affected by the dynamics between the United States and China,it can put aside its differences with China and co-exist peacefully. We have shown the capacity to solve difference with China in the past and internationally we have worked on a number of issues together, he pointed out.

Govt not after NRIs money,says Montek

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New Delhi: Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Sunday dispelled the impression that India was after NRI funds saying that more than 95 per cent of investment comes from domestic sources. I think we can get rid of the notion that we are connecting with the NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) because we want investment…we are not reaching out to NRIs because we need money, Ahluwalia said at the Pravasi Bhartiya Divas organised by the government in collaboration with industry chamber CII. At least 95 per cent of investments in the country are domestic investment, Ahluwalia said.