Return to Socialism

Presidential election is going on in France.

The current President, Nicolas Sarkozy, is in danger of losing the election. It is widely expected that the Socialist Party’s nominee, Francois Hollande, will win the election.

I am in no way close to commenting on the wisdom of the electorate. The only comment that a disinterested world citizen could make is that it may not be that wise for any European nation to return to Socialism. That would just be the anti-climax, when the developing nations are discovering the positive virtues of Capitalism (albeit rather late in the day).

Yes, it is important to attend to the needs of the jobless youth of France, and at the same time control the budget deficit. The problems that France faces are not new. It is easy to forget that President Sarkozy made some important changes to unchangeable national policies such as hours of work. It takes guts to tackle the fundamental issues plaguing the economy and be firm in regulating the ungovernable. At a time when Europe is suffering all over, it takes a tough President of the fifth largest economy in the world to not only talk tough but take his nation along with him in the difficult journey of controlling deficit and regulating the economy.

A return to Socialism which imposes huge taxes and spends large amounts of money on job creation by the State may just not work out for France, irrespective of the status of its economy. Well, no one can stop the French citizens from throwing out President Sarkozy and electing a Socialist President with a totally different economic and national agenda. After all, France is a democracy and taught the world the importance of changing rulers in the 18th Century itself.

But, France could set itself on a wrong path towards an irrecoverable economic status if it does not continue its austerity programs, in the light of what is happening in Greece, Portugal, Italy and Spain. The contagion is spreading, and no country will be spared if austerity is thrown to the wolves. A temporary tightening with compassion is what is required and it is the need of the hour.

I have no fascination for the flamboyant President, but I believe he did a few things right for France and for the European Union. If he loses, the new President would do well to learn from the past five years and pick up the good nuggets which have really worked well for France. It is not important to stick to an ideology just for the sake of it. India is a good example of how ideologies have not worked out in the hustings. Pragmatism and a deep understanding of the key issues, with a solution mindset, are what would position France on the growth path – it should aim for a GDP growth rate of 3 to 4% (from the current anemic 1.8%), rather than starting to shrink. With an economy more than twice the size of India, and exports of almost twice that of India, France plays a very important role in the world economy, and should realize its critical importance to the world when making key economic decisions.

In any case, all the best to the people of France !

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
22nd April 2012
Mumbai

The Push-Ahead Economy

This is not really about economy per se. This is more about courtesy.

People everywhere seem to be in a tearing hurry. So much so, that they seem to be ignoring the essential courtesy of saying sorry when they even unintentionally brush you past, with their bags for example. Their assumption seems to be, that “I am in real hurry, I got to catch my flight or I have to get to my meeting, and this bloke is standing on the way, so what if I hit him, shove him, or push him around, it does not matter even if he is in a queue”.

How valid is this assumption ?

Not valid at all, in my opinion.

The day when rash negligence and irreverent behaviour takes hold of people (who are otherwise the normal kind of folks), that would be when their success becomes irrelevant. One can only assume that their outlook on life is going to be equally rash and radical, with only their individual success being the sole criterion for their move-ahead in life.

It may not be the only thing in life. We all know that.

I was amazed at the number of guys in airports who seem to be intent on getting “there” first, and then they do nothing after securing their place in the queue for “something” – overall, they seem to be taking the same time as everyone else at the end of the exercise. When we do care for others such as old people and kids and families, then we develop what is called “patience”. This important characteristic is not the anti-thesis of “measured success”. It could co-exist.

In a country like India, one needs to have enormous patience as things anyway move slowly, starting from the traffic on the roads. Economy may be growing at a rate in excess of 7%, but the traffic and things to move the economy do not move in sync, they actually move rather slowly. That fact, however, does not impact the GDP growth rate. The only downside is that if the infrastructure build-out speed is enhanced, India could see a potential rise of couple of percentage points in its GDP growth rate, which would then lead to a faster uplift of a significant percentage of the population beyond the poverty line.

My strong belief is that courtesy depicts the culture of a society. If one constantly suspects that the guy ahead is deliberately slowing down to the detriment of the rest of us, then things will not go as planned. No one slows down without a reason.

Think about – no one really slows down without a valid reason. So, why trample on a number of folks, hit and smash, and try reaching your destination ? We can only be successful by helping the weak links of our society to pull together towards a greater performance.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
31st March 2012
Mumbai

Importance of FDI in Manufacturing

“FDI” is unique in terms of terminology recognition – it stands for “Foreign Direct Investment” in the Indian context.

As against the portfolio investments in the equity markets, FDI is direct investment in productive assets. It is a more meaningful destination for overseas investments in a demand-hungry and large country like India.

Apart from developing the manufacturing capability of the country in high-end manufacturing, the FDI also goes in to develop India as an export base. This has played out very well in the telecom manufacturing (cell phones and networking equipment) and car manufacturing.

For India however, apart from the above two obvious benefits, the critical benefit lies in developing the human skills in manufacturing, testing, quality assurance and certification. While such skills are available in plenty in the country, the matching of those skills with value-added, higher-end manufacturing, often leads to disappointment as either the skills are not as well developed as expected, or just not available.

While manufacturing employment is never going to match the services industry employment figures, it nevertheless represents a critical facet in a country’s advanced development and progress. No one is expecting India to match the manufacturing prowess of China, and there is simply no point in making investments in toy manufacturing which China will continue to do better than any one else in the world. However, there is hope that Indian skilled workers could make a big difference when it comes to high-tech manufacturing, such as designing and producing high-end forgings for automotive manufacturers such as General Motors.

Government should allow unfettered, unconditional FDI into Indian manufacturing industries. There is no point in imposing conditions, apart from those which the source country itself would impose in the areas of safety and quality. Why would a global manufacturer come into India in the midst of all the red tape, and try to manufacture in impossible conditions, and ship things out using a dilapidated and mostly unusable infrastructure in roads and ports ? It would make no sense to them.

Government should shed its anti-investment mindset and strongly push for 100% investments via the FDI route. That is the only way to ensure that high-end manufacturing jobs are available to engineers who are passing out in such large numbers from engineering colleges. Why waste their learning and engineering skills in IT or BPO centres ? Government should not worry about any protests from domestic industry, as increasing FDI will only result in upgradation of their own skill levels and more mergers & acquisitions, which would overall lead to scale and consolidation in lines of manufacturing.

Consider the export argument. This year (which ends on 31st March 2012) would see India reach an export target of close to USD 300B (at the rate of almost USD 25B a month of late). The next obvious goal is USD 500B which would make India one of the top six exporting nations in the world. Again the goal should not be to beat a Germany or a China. We should take on quantitative targets which are achievable and work towards enabling the same and removing the hurdles on the way. That should be the KPI of the Commerce Ministry of the Government of India. It is surely possible, but would become very possible with increased and unfettered FDI into India.

And, exports mean prosperity and an appreciating currency. We should pre-plan for USD = INR 40 within the next two years. Yes, that would be a difficult target, but I would not say that is a target but rather an outcome of concerted action to enhance our export competitiveness. That would reduce the profits of exporters, hence it is required that we plan very much in advance.

Let us become a global power in manufacturing – that would be surely possible with the investments from global manufacturing companies which need to be actively encouraged to come to India.

Will the Indian Government do it ? What they are doing is neither adequate nor result-oriented. They need to get pushy and aggressive, more sales-driven. Obviously, there is a lot of competition for the investment dollar.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
5th February 2012
Mumbai

Taming Inflation

Food inflation went negative towards the end of December in India.

That is wonderful news, after a long period of almost double-digit inflation, which ensured that the interest rates were kept continually on the ascendancy by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central monetary authority).

The very high level of interest rates has started to finally crimp the growth of India’s economy, which hit a low of 6.9% in the July to September quarter. That, combined with lobbying by businesses, finally made the government sit up to the realities of growth necessity for India. This is one country which needs dollops of economic growth and investments for the next twenty-five years, non-stop. This is mandatory for lifting the 600 millions of people who subsist around the poverty levels, out of their misery and towards economic development. In fact, I would say that this effort is required on behalf of the entire world ! Yes, not only are these numbers mind-boggling, these are also the people who will eventually provide the workforce required and form the consumer-base for many global companies.

Given that India needs industrial growth (which has fallen to the level of 5%), and employment generation, it is inevitable that interest rates should start falling by March 2012. I do not think the RBI can hold the current level of interest rates beyond that period, without further damaging the economic growth.

Inflation has finally been tamed. It should come down further within the next couple of months. And, that drop should give the necessary impetus for the RBI to start cutting the rates, thereby reviving the economy and the markets. Of course, any hint of such action will lead to irrational exuberance, but that is the way things pan out in the equity markets. Nothing can be done about an over-reaction, after a rather long period of depressed market. The Sensex is still around 15,000 points, and it is the worst performing index in the world probably. And, hopefully, the Indian Rupee will start its move back towards where it was – at INR 45 to the USD (now it is around INR 53).

Finally, a ray of hope. May be the vegetables and fruits we consume would be available at a cheaper price soon. That should please the poor and middle-class families.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
7th January 2012
Mumbai

A Difficult Decision

A very difficult week is coming up.

It is the week when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) would release some important report on the Indian Economy. All eyes are on the Governor of the RBI, Mr Subba Rao. RBI is the central bank of India, the equivalent of the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England, or the Monetary Authority.

What will he do or not do ?

The interest rates which the RBI has used some 17 or 18 times in the past 21 months to curb the inflationary pressures in the Indian Economy have failed to control inflation. Inflation is still very high at probably around 8 to 9%, while the food-specific inflation has come down significantly for the first time in more than a year.

India is facing challenges from multiple corners of the economy.

India’s trade deficit is rising fast, as the gap between imports and exports is widening every day with oil imports taking the prime place. On the other hand, the Indian Rupee is depreciating fast for as-yet-unspecified reasons, becoming the worst performing currency in the Asia Pacific region, with a drop of over 18% against the US Dollar. This has hugely impacted the importers, Indian tourists overseas and Indian students overseas, while exporters especially the Information Technology companies have benefited.

So, there you go – a widening trade deficit + a worsening currency exchange rate with apparently no bottom + a persistently high inflation + high cost of operation due to the very high interest rates + lack of decision-making at the highest levels in the Indian Central (Federal) Government, all these factors are combining to hit the Indian Economy. The GDP growth rate is likely to fall below 7% despite optimistic government estimate of 7.5%.

With all the above background (and probably much more statistics on hand), what will the RBI Governor do ? My guess is that he will keep the rate steady and will not drop the rate. It is still too early to come to the conclusion that inflation has been curtailed. Of course, he will have to weigh the balance between growth compulsions and inflation. I am sure he will be subtly told by the Finance Minister to consider the growth prospects that would result if the interest rate could come down.

But then, the independence of the RBI has been well established. I have not seen the RBI acting at the behest of anyone. I myself strongly believe that the interest rate should be left untouched for another 90 days till the end of March 2012, before making a decision to bring it down based on further economic data. A softening bias can be indicated now without any adjustments to the various rates. Policy-making at the apex economic level cannot be held hostage to the urgent demands of growth when inflation is eating away any growth.

We are going to wait and see. But I would bet on the outcome I have described above. This would be better for the Indian Economy in the medium term, rather than follow some of the other central banks which have started dropping the rates.

Have a good weekend,

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
17th December 2011
Mumbai

American Leadership Required

Today the world is tottering towards an economic abyss.

Though most of the economists tend to place the blame on Greece and Europe, what I think is missing in this whole smoking cauldron is simply one thing the world has been missing for quite a while.

What is that you may ask ?

I would simply put that as American Leadership.

Be it in domestic policy issues or international policy making, the U.S. has been lagging behind the Asian countries for a while. The decline started two years ago and is persisting in the midst of the global gloom engulfing the world today. Had it been successful in resolving the domestic economic challenges in the aftermath of the global crisis spawned by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, that would have translated to greater economic benefit for the entire world.

Instead the new President of the U.S. got lost in multiple challenges facing the economy, rising unemployment, the war in Afghanistan, and a multitude of other issues. The promises that he made during the campaign were not kept. The Republicans defeated the President on every major policy matter, especially on the deficit financing.

While Europe made its own share of mistakes and countries continued to live beyond their means, the U.S. should have stepped in and firmly advised Europe not to let Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain further aggravate the already fragile economic situation in the world. It should have done it in the same manner as it would have supported Europe in the NATO alliance. Europe did not have firm leadership and no body wanted to antagonise the powerful head of the European Central Bank. Was this any different from the way in which the IMF and the World Bank advised Asian economies in the aftermath of the Asian economic crisis of 1998 ?

Why are we not learning ?

At the end of the day, governments are getting replaced, new leaders are coming into play (albeit temporarily, as no one knows how long they are going to last), and the coffers are empty. If 3 of the key nations of Europe go down the tube, who is responsible – especially for slow decision-making which has been the cause of the problems becoming huge day after day ?

I strongly believe that the U.S. Federal Reserve and the U.S. President should have played a much more impactful role in arresting the decline of Europe, which is not only in the interest of the U.S. but also of the whole world. With the result of inaction acting like slow poison, today we have arrived at an unstable world where China is fast becoming the economic leader.

As against the past practice of economy following politics, we might have the issue now of politics following economics, which if you really care to think about it, is not palatable. You would not want an economic autocracy, or freedom of expression replaced by economic slavery. All this has almost come to pass due to sheer lack of political leadership in the West, especially the U.S.

So at the end of the day, the world needs firm and generous U.S. leadership to guide the world out of its problems. It might be too much to ask for when the U.S. is having serious economic troubles of its own. But the world does not seem to be having any other good choice today.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
27th November 2011
Mumbai

India needs FDI

FDI, like many other financial acronyms, is well-established and well-known in India.

FDI stands for “Foreign Direct Investment”. And, what is FII ? It stands for “Foreign Institutional Investment”. And, so on and so forth.

FII is portfolio investment into the country’s equity and financial markets. This money is termed as “hot money” – it can flee as fast as it came in, or even faster.

FDI is investment in productive assets, it is “real” investment which stays on in the country and is almost permanent – it rarely ever flees the country.

India is hugely short of FDI, due to various macroeconomic reasons. The world is going through a tough financial crisis, and investment dollars are in short supply, etc., But, that does not portray the correct picture.

India is yet to change many of its archaic government policies on investment and labour. For instance, it has not formulated its final position on FDI in insurance, retail, and a host of other industries. How can investments flow if the investors are not sure if they would make a decent return on their investments ? How can investors put in their money if the environment is corrupted ? How can investors invest if the labour laws are stacked up against the efficient operation of a capital-labour market mechanism ?

These are only a few of the major issues. The other huge issue is the decrepit infrastructure which is crying for a huge infusion of investment and a bold policy of reform when it comes to land acquisition.

In all these important areas, India is dragging its feet, thereby delaying the flow of investments into the country. India gets much less FDI as compared to South East Asian countries even now, after a decade of promising economic growth above 7%, and a vast market waiting to be tapped.

I have written several times about the need for India to make bold economic reforms and who best can do that than our eminent economist Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh ? However, there is a sense of helplessness in the government and the bureaucracy and things are not moving at all. There are some weak positive signs and gestures but nothing with a bold posturing and aggressive pushing, which are needed in today’s India which is tired of inaction on the part of the government and the parliament.

Opposition Parties are viewed as hurdles today, they are not cooperating with the government even when it comes to approval of key economic policies.

At the moment, the government needs to make its intentions and policies clear to global investors. India needs and can absorb in excess of USD 25B of FDI every year for the next decade or so. For that to happen, India needs a plan.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
20th November 2011
Mumbai

Petrol Subsidies in India

The Government of India will spend upwards of INR 1.32L Crores (approximately USD 26B) during the current Fiscal Year in terms of providing subsidies to the oil marketing firms in the country, to compensate for the increasing prices of crude oil.

The Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, recently said that these subsidies are unsustainable, and if the international crude prices rise further, the government would not be able to provide additional subsidies.

For a developing country like India, it would not be possible to spend such huge amounts of money in supporting the three oil marketing companies. Such a huge amount can really help in improving the infrastructure of the country, which is crying for urgent investments.

So, I agree with the Prime Minister – the government should, in fact, cut the subsidies, forcing the oil marketing companies to rise the petrol prices in tune with the international prices. That would be free market operation, and is in consonance with the official government-announced policy on deregulation of petrol prices [the Indian Government still controls the prices of other fuels such as diesel, kerosene and gas].

One way of controlling the fast-rising demand for petrol is to rise the petrol prices, and if the oil marketing companies are independent to operate in this respect, they should not desist from doing so, irrespective of the political costs.

The poor people get affected by diesel, kerosene and gas prices, and not petrol prices. The middle class will be hit the most by increase in petrol prices, but I believe that they will take it and reduce their consumption to accommodate their monthly expense budgets. They have to realize that India depends on imported crude oil for more than 70% of its consumption and there is a price to pay in a world where demand for crude oil is not going to go down. Economic principles have to play a role in determining the price elasticity of demand, and petrol is no different in that respect.

Let us reduce the consumption and try to use shared transportation wherever feasible, rather than imposing a higher demand on imports. There is no other way out in the current situation. Even if oil prices drop in international markets, the oil marketing companies would not pass on the benefit of price reduction, as they would cite their needs to recuperate accrued losses over the past couple of years of high oil prices and the increased cost of import due to the Indian Rupee depreciating by more than 10% against the US Dollar in the past couple of months, leading to a much higher import bill for crude.

So, let us think carefully. Petrol prices will go up, and nothing can be accomplished by fighting the increase, we are in a free-market economy. We cannot have it both ways – free-market whenever it is convenient, otherwise it is socialism !

Of course, if one has a diesel car (disclosure: I have one), then the increase in diesel prices are going to be rather controlled by the government, providing a certain cushion. While this is good, let us not forget that the diesel prices have also gone up, though by a lesser percentage over the past 15 months. Since India is not producing the oil that we all need, it is going to be this way, let us realize the fact.

Government should propagate their oil policy clearly to the citizens so that everyone understands the need for actions that would be taken, and could have early warning to manage their respective budgets. Is there a choice, except for more availability of electric and solar cars, and more car models that would run on compressed natural gas ?

We all should think, instead of just blindly protesting or supporting political parties which take to the streets for every increase in petrol price.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
13th November 2011
Mumbai

Globalization – Now or Never for India

India has been making half-hearted attempts at globalization for over two decades now.

Coming from a socialistic background this is not difficult to understand. There is always a concern amongst policy-makers that the poorest of the poor would be left behind if India globalizes fast. Again this is an understandable concern given the facts on the ground. The separation between the rich and the poor in India has widened despite almost a decade of good GDP growth rates (in excess of 6% and over 7% for the past few years). The digital divide is worsening, given that the poor have no easy access to the emerging digital economy.

However, the policy of the government is currently to worry about exclusion rather than how to bring the excluded people into the inclusion net. The solution to the problem is not less globalization, but actually more of it.

This is obvious to outsiders, even to educated people in the country, but not to the government and its officials and policy-makers. Why is that so ?

Is it not quite obvious that millions of young Indians joining the workforce would need a job and they are not going to do agriculture even if they mostly come from a rural background ? Is it not the responsibility of the government of the day to ensure that the right policies are in place to facilitate employment generation ?

The most important benefit of globalization for India would be generation of millions of new jobs in manufacturing, retail and financial services and other industries. Yes, of course, the foreign companies will come in but so be it – they will generate big employment as these services have to be delivered in India to the people of India. India will also be eventually used to generate manufactured exports, as it has so successfully done in the automobile industry.

India badly needs Foreign Direct Investment (nor really the portfolio investment) as we need high-quality manufacturing investments and infrastructure to export to the world. Government has to facilitate such investments quickly, India can absorb USD 30 to 40B every year in such investments. We are now getting less than USD 10B.

So, what should the policy makers do ? They should advise the government to (a) ease the flow of investments into India with excellent incentives to employment generating manufacturing investments without restrictions on location or employment policies ; (b) rejig the decades old labour laws, facilitating addition and exit of labour in a dynamic marketplace for labour ; (c) set quantitative targets to the concerned ministries and ensure that they achieve these targets for investment flow, net employment generation, etc., ; (d) ensure the benefits of the digital economy reaches the remotest parts of India by connecting every post office and village to the internet using high-speed optical fibre ; and (e) ensure the delivery of e-services to all the citizens thereby eliminating corruption ; (f) ensure access to banking services for all citizens and flow of credit to small and medium sized industries, and (g) sell stakes in public sector enterprises and generate funds to reduce the fiscal deficit ; and, (h) reduce subsidies and provide work-based payments to the poor in an enhanced manner (and avoid stupid definitions of poverty line !).

Well, I am sure that governments would get unsolicited advice from all over, but the key point is that the window for benefiting would not last forever. India is seen today as relatively unscathed from the impact of the current global financial crisis, and is also seen as an economy of the future. Instead of worrying about the impact of globalization and moving far towards Left of the Centre, the current government should look at capitalizing on the current state of affairs in world economy and pitch aggressively for a bigger share of investments and free the market of old regulations. Decontrol everything and get out of doing business – no government should be engaged in doing business which can be more efficiently done by the private sector. Deregulate and regulate with a light touch – the market and the population will find their feet. Can we doubt the maturity of the Indian population, which has made decisive changes in the past on which party should rule India ?

This is a moment which the UPA Government at the Centre should seize. If they miss out, the next government would get all the credit for transforming India and the UPA Government, led mostly by the Congress Party, would more be known for the corruption scandals rather than for the good things they have accomplished over the past seven years. It is time to think, take professional help and move ahead aggressively. Will Dr Manmohan Singh (Prime Minister of India) read this blog post please ?

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
6th November 2011
Mumbai

Formula 1 Grand Prix

India recently concluded the Formula 1 Grand Prix successfully at Noida near Delhi. It was a grand success and went without a hitch. The racing circuit was endorsed by the key global racers as one of the best in the world.

While there are debates raging between the opposing camps – one which says it is a gross misuse of funds with no clear return on investment, and the other which says that India has truly arrived in the world’s premier sporting event – it is very evident from the success that private entrepreneurship is far better than government execution.

That statement is mostly true around the world. One reason which comes up clearly on the surface is that any government is not really geared towards running a business, or a sporting event for that matter. Governments around the world have mostly withdrawn from owning direct responsibility of running a business enterprise, though many might still have a controlling interest in several large enterprises. How can we expect to run a manufacturing industry, or a business using the services of government bureaucrats. I believe even public sector enterprises in India (majority-owned by Government of India through one of its ministries) should have at least a 50% representation by independent directors on their boards of directors. In some cases, it is not even 20%. We can all see the mess in Air India (now called “Indian”) – the flagship airlines of India owned by the government. Examples abound. Even in the sports arena, the world saw the Common Wealth Games (CWG) scandals in India last year: though the event itself happened without much of a problem, the corruption scandals tarnished the image of the Indian Government and the CWG institution.

In the case of Formula 1, the entire execution was by a private sector company, which obtained the license to run the Grand Prix from the Formula 1 Organizers, and the much-needed land from the Uttar Pradesh State Government (Noida is part of the state). There are several arguments in the Indian media that the company will not be able to recover the investment even after many years, and given the poor mindset on maintenance, the circuit would be wasted away in due course of time. What is the point in building such an expensive circuit, when it is going to be used just for a few days in a year ? Etc., etc.,

But the key point, Indians need to be proud, and there are very few things today that they can be proud of. When such a small city state as Singapore can host the Night Grand Prix so successfully for the past few years in the middle of its dense city, can India, a country of such vast proportions stand up and execute an ambitious project without corruption and with such perfection ? Yes, it can do so, if the executors are left to use their business sense and capabilities without unnecessary bureaucratic intervention.

Well, we can also argue till the cows come home, whether it was worthwhile to spend so much on an “elite” sport which very few people in the country understand or want to be involved in. Good question. Yes, most of even middle class must have come to know about the fact that a Grand Prix Formula 1 race is being held in India, only a few days before the event actually took place. One can also say that only the rich and famous, and the Bollywood celebrities were involved, and they were the only faces focused upon in the extensive media coverage last weekend. Yes, agreed on all the above counts. But all these observations do not detract from the excellent execution of a world-class project by private enterprise in India, and the Government of India would do well to learn from this experience and institute more public-private partnership events and enterprises to enhance the competitiveness of India on the global scene.

That would be a show-stopper, sorry, ground-breaking development in the long socialistic history of Independent India. It is not socialism, it is not capitalism, but it is “economic” partnership for ensuring the future of India.

Cheers,

Vijay Srinivasan
6th November 2011
Mumbai