By Aroonim Bhuyan, IANS
New Delhi : India, with its undisputed success story, has emerged as one of the most important countries for economic engagement, says Karan Bilimoria, member of Britain’s House of Lords and co-chairperson of Indo-British Partnership (IBP).
Blimoria, along with British Commerce Minister Lord Digby Jones, will be leading two trade delegations comprising representatives of around 100 companies to New Delhi Monday, ahead of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to India.
“India’s success story is undisputed. Hence, it is most important that Britain and India get together,” Bilimoria, the owner of Cobra Beer, told IANS in an interview.
Stating that Britain has a very special relationship with only two countries in the world – the US and India – he said, “The relationship with India is stronger.”
This was because the two countries share various commonalities, he said.
“Both countries have shared democracies. The language of business is English in both Britain and India. The countries have identical rule of law. And both countries have a very vibrant media. And to top it all, the two countries have a very strong emotional relationship.”
Saying that India should be proud to have a prime minister like Manmohan Singh, he singled out Commerce Minister Kamal Nath for special praise.
“We at IBP have a very fruitful relationship with Kamal Nath. He is a man of action. Whenever he says it will be done, it gets done.”
Asked what were the areas in which India and Britain can be partners, he said, “Innovation and developing new technology is something the two countries can work together.”
“Then again, there is infrastructure. India is investing around $500 billion in infrastructure. And British companies are hugely experienced in this area.”
Telecom is another area holding immense potential, Bilimoria said.
“Though telecom growth in India has been tremendous, the penetration level is still less than 20 percent,” he said.
“Higher education and skills development is a must if India has to sustain its growth. With four of the top 10 universities being in Britain, we certainly have a lot to give to India.”
Bilimoria, who was among the 12 recipients of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2008, India’s highest award for overseas Indians, was also very enthusiastic about the prospect of India’s legal industry being opened up.
“Your law minister (Hansraj Bhardwaj) announced in London recently that he wants to open up India’s legal industry. Just imagine what kind of potential lies there with legal systems in the two countries being similar.”
“There are still barriers in areas like finance and insurance. We should work on removing these.
“We at IBP have been meeting regularly to discuss these issues. We know that (India and Britain) engaging with each other is a continuous process and that is the way forward.”