PM'S STATEMENT TO THE INDIAN MEDIA
The Prime Minister,
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee issued a statement to the Indian media
at Lausanne, Switzerland today. The statement contains a broad
overview of the Prime Minister’s visit to Germany, Russia and
France and his meetings with leaders of different countries. Following
is the text of the Prime Minister’s statement:
"I am completing
an eventful tour abroad, which included a bilateral visit to Germany,
attendance at the 300th anniversary celebrations of
St. Petersburg and participation in the "G-8 Broader Dialogue"
in Evian. The visit has provided the opportunity of interaction
with a large number of world leaders and useful bilateral discussions
with many of them.
The visit to
Germany sought to strengthen the India-Germany partnership and
to move it closer towards fulfilling its strategic potential.
My discussions with Chancellor Schroeder were productive. German
perspectives are very similar to ours on major international issues
like terrorism and the building of a cooperative multipolar world
order. Chancellor Schroeder was categorical on the subject of
terrorism at our joint press interaction. We agreed to further
intensify our collaboration in Information Technology, biotechnology
and space, and identified a number of new areas of focus like
renewable energy sources and technical education. I also had an
interesting interaction with a representative group of German
parliamentarians.
I have invited
the Chancellor to India next year to maintain the tradition of
annual exchanges of high-level visits.
In Munich, Minister-President
Stoiber and I exchanged views on strengthening links between Bavaria
and India. In particular, institutional partnerships in IT and
e-governance were discussed. My interaction in Munich with German
business representatives enabled me to underline to them the vast
untapped economic potential in India-Germany relations. I understand
that the Indian business delegation, which was in Germany during
my visit, had extensive interactions with government and business
circles in Germany.
My attendance at
the 300th anniversary celebrations of St. Petersburg
was both a tribute to a great city and in recognition of the strategic
partnership between India and Russia.
The celebrations
attracted an impressive array of world leaders, testifying to
the international stature of Russia and of President Putin. Besides
my important meeting with President Putin, I had the opportunity
of bilateral meetings with President Hu Jintao of China, President
Chirac of France and Prime Minister Tony Blair of UK, besides
substantive interactions during social occasions with President
Bush of USA and Prime Minister Chretien of Canada. These discussions
covered bilateral relations as well as international issues. All
these leaders were deeply appreciative of the peace initiative,
which I had launched by extending a hand of friendship to Pakistan.
I shared with them our perspectives on the way forward, including
our concerns on cross-border terrorism.
The meeting yesterday
in Evian was a unique occasion when selected representatives of
the developing world interacted with G-8 countries on a number
of political, economic, social and environmental concerns, which
exercise the developing world. It created a forum of communication
at the highest level between the developed and the developing
world. I think this idea holds great promise for a new kind of
cooperative North-South dialogue.
In Evian, I met
the President of Mexico, and in Lausanne, the President of Brazil.
We have a number of complementarities with Latin America. Brazil
and Mexico are two important countries of the region. We hope
to further strengthen our relations with them.
I will return
to India tomorrow with the satisfaction that we have made further
progress in our efforts to build closer relations with our many
partners in the world. Regular exchanges of views and perspectives
with them ensures better understanding on bilateral, regional
and international issues".
