I am convinced the entrepreneurial spirit of the Indian people, if allowed to express itself freely in the marketplace, India will be all right.

We have to walk on two legs. We have to create conditions in which manufacturing and services - the economy outside agriculture - move and move fast enough. And at the same time the working force that is available must have skills which will fit the kind of jobs which will be in demand.

If the economy is growing fast, there is call for a distributing income from the rich to the poor to to put in place social safety nets.

We should put more money in health. We should put more money in devising credible social safety nets for the poor.

I believe all societies, all thriving societies of the future are going to be multicultural societies.

When I became finance minister in 1991, I discovered that the wealth tax rates income - there was taxation on wealth. It was so atrocious and so high that actually nobody could accumulate money in an honest way. I removed that tax, and the result was that Indian companies for the first time acquired an incentive to grow big, to grow rich.

If we have access to nuclear energy, that adds to our maneuverability in ensuring energy security as India marches on, on the path to accelerated development.