I pray for that moment in which I think we can claim to the world that we are now in a different, new era of Indo-American relationship of trust, of working together, partnership strengthened both by our commitment to common values, and also the identity of interests.

We all know the epicentre of terrorism in the world today is Pakistan. The world community has to come to grips with this harsh reality.

I sincerely believe what happens in India has, I think, lessons, morals for the future evolution of humankind in the 21st century.

The salvation of the world ultimately lies in moving towards universal nuclear disarmament, but that's a long distance away.

A politician before he can become a statesman has to remain in office long enough.

The Chinese have certain advantages. The fact that it's a single party government. But I do believe in the long run the fact that India is a functioning democracy committed to the rule of law. Our system is slow to move but I'm confident that once decisions are taken they are going to be far more durable.

With the revolution in information technology, with the revolution in transport technologies, I think just geography has lost its all significance.