As the largest and most developed democracies of Asia (India and Japan), we have a mutual stake in each other's progress and prosperity.

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

India's future lies in being an open society, an open polity, a functioning democracy respecting all fundamental human freedoms, accepting the rule of law and, at the same time, to emerge as a successful, internationally competitive market economy.

We are a coalition government, and that limits our options in some ways. Privatization happens to be one such area.

My vision is to work for the relationship between India and Pakistan which would be like the relation between Canada and the United States.

We are a mixed economy. We will remain a mixed economy. The public and private sector will continue to play a very important role. The private sector in our country has very ample scope and I am confident that India's entrepreneurs have the capacity, and the will to rise to the occasion.

India's infrastructure has to be modernized, has to be expanded at a rate which will I think be consistent with the growth requirements.