By IANS
Gurgaon : Humour was in abundance at the Partnership Summit here Thursday, with one Indian minister saying he would have been termed a “congenital idiot” if he had spoken of nine percent growth a quarter of a century ago.
Another minister said the US should give visas to 10,000 Indian farmers who will lose their livelihood if Washington did not scale down subsidies for American farmers.
“We are growing at close to nine percent. I could not have said this five years ago,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said while speaking at the plenary on “Indices for development: Need for change?” on the second day of the three-day summit.
“I couldn’t even have dreamt of nine percent growth 15 years ago. If I had said this 25 years ago, I would have been termed a congenital idiot,” Chidambaram said in his usual wry manner – and the audience loved it.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath also spoke in a lighter vein while addressing a plenary on trade talks.
“Ten thousand Indian farmers will lose their livelihood if the US does not scale down the subsidies it gives its farmers. The US should then give us 10,000 visas so we can send our farmers there,” the minister said, much to the mirth of audience.
His tongue-in-cheek comment came during the plenary on “The Doha Round: A Multidimensional View”. Sharing the dais with him were Yoshitaka Shindo, Japan’s senior vice minister of economy, trade and industry, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, and Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean.