Mr. S. M. KRISHNA, H.E. Governor of Maharashtra

His Excellency, Consul General of China, Mr. Song Deheng, Dr. Abid Hissain, Dr. Deodhar, Shri. Suresh Sharma, Distinguished delegates from India and China. Ladies and Gentlemen.

I am delighted to be here this morning to be part of a very meaningful conference that is being organized by India China Economic and Cultural Council & Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies.

India and China, in recent times have been the focus of global attention both politically and economically. There was a time when political differences were magnified by international sections of global opinion makers. They wanted to create a permanent divide between China and India, but wisdom prevailed in both the countries and as a result of that, a matured well-clarified line has been adopted - The line of friendship.

It is about 52 years back, to be very precise on the 29th of April 1954, when the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existence was signed by the then Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of China. Well so much water has flown under the bridge between 1954 and 2006. There have been many hiccups, there have been many obstacles. We have had to fight against very heavy odds. At that time, both these countries were driven to a sense of utmost hostility. But let us not forget that each of these countries have a 5000 year legacy of civilization. Perhaps that provided the resilience that is needed to cement the friendship between our two countries. It isn't as if there were no adversary interests on either side of the fence. If there were hawks in China, there were hawks in India in the early 60s, perhaps provided a platform, a springboard for critics of Indo-China friendship to wage an assault on the whole policy. But as matured nations, we have been able to overcome these challenges and assaults. Today, as it was very eloquently made out by Honorary General Consul of China and India that the bilateral trade has certainly moved and is moving forward. Well this may not be enough. For two developing countries, sky is the limit. But a question with which we should be concerned as partisans of this policy of friendship, "are the foundations sound?" When the foundations are sound, as a beginning, we make. If the beginning is made, with strong foundations then I am sure no power can stop these two countries from moving forward, and moving close to each other.

Why do we go to United States of America? Why do we go to United Kingdom? It should become some kind of a habit especially with our youngsters to go explore what China can offer to India and Chinese young men and women to come to India and explore what India can offer to them. It could be done by person-to-person initiative, it could also be done by NGOs promoting these visits to the respective countries and this would certainly go a long way in bringing us together and a sense of purpose can be worked out. It is already projected in the next 25 years India and China together we can be the world's economic leader. We can be an economic super-powerhouse.

I was in China about a year and a half back. Little did I realize, when I left for China on my second trip that I would be called back to become the Governor of this great state. I was just wandering. You could just say 'an Indian wandering in China'. I went to Chengdu and three other provinces. I had the privilege of meeting with a couple of Governors in those provinces and I could see the village side, the countryside of China. So much of economic activity is going on in that country. At every level, there is economic activity, which is visible, which can be felt, which can be seen. Yes we have two different systems. Ours is a democratic set up; the due process of law. The Chinese have their own system. The strength of relationship emanates from the fact that we respect each other's institutions. There was a time when we were questioning. We were trying to impose democratic norms and from the other side they are trying to impose their systems. But with the passage of time, we have given up that negative approach to face problems. There are, I see positive vibrations.

At this particular conference, we have Mr. Deodhar who is posted in Bombay, Dr. Abid Hussain and others who are active in the ICEC Council and the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies. It was Shri. Rajiv Gandhi, who, when nobody was talking about 21st century in 1985, was in this very city, and he reminded us that we were just on the threshold of approaching the 21st century. To get our mindset prepared for receiving the 21st century. Well we are six years through. How time flies, flies so fast. So the three days of deliberations, which you are going to have with our Chinese delegates, is going to be a very useful exercise. This would be a very useful interaction between these two countries and I find that most of the Chinese delegates are still very young and perhaps that is the key to China's success in whatever they have been doing. The emphasis that they lay on the youth power of the country. Perhaps it's about time that we also draw some inspiration and then sway by the youth power of this country. I have great pleasure in formally inaugurating this conference and I wish it Godspeed.