CII Communique - December, 2010

india & the world
Vineet Nayar, Vice-Chairman and CEO, HCL Technologies, India; Aisha De Sequeira, MD & Head - Investment Banking, India, Morgan Stanley;
Dennis Nally; Agatha K. Sangma, Minister of State for Rural Development, India; Suresh Vaswani, Joint CEO, IT Business, & Member of the
Board, Wipro; and Ana Dutra, CEO, Leadership & Talent Consulting, and Executive Vice-President, Korn/Ferry International, USA
described the India-Africa partnership as the defining
partnership of the 21st century. “India has set up an
institutional mechanism to deepen its partnership with
Africa, and is taking a number of steps to reduce
poverty, provide health and food security in Africa,” he
said. The Minister referred to the Pan Africa e-network
project, which aims to develop Africa’s information and
communication technologies by eventually connecting all
of the 53 African countries to a satellite and fiber-optic
network, as an example of India’s commitment towards
Africa’s development.
Mr Sharma made a strong commitment to India’s
engagement with Africa and said that Free Trade
Agreements (FTA) between India and different regions
are the natural and the next logical step towards
deepening the partnership between the two regions.
He also praised the role of the Indian private sector in
Africa, saying that Indian companies have been following
ethical practices while investing in Africa, which will also
help in the development of the continent. The ‘ethical
engagement’ by the Indian private sector in Africa was
lauded by other participants as well, and cited as a
model for genuine South-South partnerships.
At the session on ‘Water Management,’ Dr Montek Singh
Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of
India, announced that variable pricing would be a plank
of the new water policy. Such differentiated pricing
according to usage would discourage wasteful water
expenditure and promote efficiency. Participants also
talked of the imperative for private sector participation
in water management.
Acknowledging that politics and the public sector no
longer attract the best talent, Mr Arun Jaitley, Leader
of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha, India, said, “We need
to introspect our inability to attract the best talent.”
Speaking at the plenary session on ‘Fostering Public
Leadership’. he called 1991 a defining year for India, not
just from the economic perspective, but also politically.
The post-1991 evolution of political parties was based
on social and caste appeal, where “caste and dynasty
replaced meritocracy. It is this mindset which needs to
be changed,” he said. Other panel members, including
Mr R S Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director,
ONGC, and Mr Oyun Sanjaasuren, MP from Mongolia,
emphasized the preference for private sector employment,
and stated that the government must learn from the
private sector in nurturing talent.
Globalization and technological development have led
to an increase in global competitiveness especially in
emerging Asia, said Mr. Kamal Nath, Minister of Road
Transport & Highways, India, in a session on ‘Emerging
Economies, Engines of Global Trade’. However, the
C V Madhukar, Director, PRS Legislative Research, India; Richard A. Boucher, Dy Secretary-General, Organisation for
Economic Co-operation & Development, Paris; Mallika Sarabhai, Director, Darpana Academy of Performing Arts, India; and
Saurabh Srivastava, Chairman, CA Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd
Communiqué December 2010 | 9