India needs foreign capital and technology, not alliances: PM
13 Sep 2010
India needs foreign capital, both portfolio and direct investment, the best of modern technology and access to markets of the advanced economies if we are to sustain a growth rate of 9 to 10 per cent in the foreseeable future, prime minister Manmohan Singh said today.
"We have always prided ourselves on preserving our strategic autonomy, and this is an article of faith for us," the prime minister said.
"India is too large a country to be boxed into any alliance or regional or sub-regional arrangements, whether trade, economic or political," he said while addressing the Combined Commanders' Conference.
He said the country needed to maintain a healthy relation with all major powers as it has to modernise its infrastructure.
He said the world is witnessing a shift of economic and political power to Asia and we have to focus more on the Asia-Pacific region, including South East Asia, and this must seep into India's defence and foreign policy planning as never before.
"There is a palpable desire on the part of the countries of this region to enhance cooperation with us, which we must reciprocate," he noted.