74th Annual General Meeting
December 5-6, 2001, New Delhi

Speech of Union Home Minister, Shri L K Advani

I am happy to participate in the 74th Annual Session of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. I extend my warm greetings to all the delegates.

The subject that I have been asked to speak on is both important and timely. It is closely linked to the main theme of your session this year - namely, "India's Economic Security : New Issues, New Options & New Strategies".

I Compliment FICCI on choosing to focus the session's deliberations on India's Economic Security. It shows the spread of the new thinking that transcends the conventional understanding of the subject of national security as exclusively external security, to be maintained by the country's Armed Forces.

New dimension of national security

The developments in the past two decades, marked by the phenomenon of cross-border terrorism, forced us to widen our understanding of national security to include internal security. Earlier, internal security connoted, primarily, maintenance of law and order within the nation's borders. Now we know how, in the Indian context, external and internal security are closely intertwined with one another.

In recent years, however, we have had to further broaden our understanding of national security to embrace the concerns on India's Food Security, Energy Security and Economic Security. With national security having assumed such a comprehensive character, even foreign policy and the conduct of diplomacy are also now required to take into account these new dimensions.

National security was earlier the near-exclusive domain of the Minister of Defence. Speaking metaphorically, I can say that it has now become the concern of all the ministries in South Block, North Block and all the other Bhavans in the vicinity - Krishi Bhavan and especially, Yojana Bhavan.

It augurs well to know that this comprehensive concern for national security has also spread to Federation House, the headquarters of FICCI. I hope that it will spread to all the member-companies of FICCI and other business associations all across the country. A single vision, that of securing our motherland against all conceivable threats to the security of our borders as well as the safety of our people and our future generations, must guide all of us in the Government, businesses and other walks of life.

Su-raj, Suraksha and Samruddhi

Friends, Security (suraksha) is the first prerequisite of good governance (su-raj), which in turn is a precondition for samruddhi or all-round prosperity. It has been our government's endeavor to strengthen our security, both external and internal, in a sustained manner. We are doing so because we believe that governance and internal security play a crucial role in securing a proper business environment that is essential to sustain the overall growth of the economy.

Only through speedier and more sustained economic growth, can we remove poverty, unemployment and bring the fruits of prosperity to all our citizens.

Governance is important for ensuring basic law and order in society, regulations, business transactions and ensuring access to judicial processes to redress grievances. The better the quality of such services that are provided by the government, the greater will be the competitive strength of the national economy. All this requires an efficient bureaucracy, police and judicial machinery - not only at the Centre but also in States and districts.

The competitive strength of business and the economy is also enhanced by the government's ability to provide basic infrastructure services of international standards at affordable prices. Even after liberalisation of the economy, governments in many countries, including in India, continue to play a crucial role in building and operating such infrastructure facilities.

Any disruption of such infrastructure, by natural or other deliberate causes, would disrupt the business environment and destabilize the economy.

The financial resources and technological capability of the administrative apparatus and the law and order machinery are also crucial to improving the quality of governance and improving the speed and efficiency of response to crime and terrorism. This includes economic crimes.

Terrorism and other threats to internal security and economy

India has been a victim of terrorism for nearly two decades. Apart from the very heavy social political cost that it extracts, we also know how it has affected our economy. Events of September 11 have made the ugly face of terrorism visible globally. But they have also vindicated what India had been saying about the need for united global action against terrorism.

Improving the internal security also requires tackling radical ideologies that affect the peaceful life of the citizens. We have seen how Left-wing extremism has affected some parts Eastern and Central India. It is threat to administration, to business and commerce and to the safety of citizens' life and property.

Left wing ideology has often degenerated into extremism and sought to being about a political change, not through ballot but through the bullet. It speaks in the name of the poor people but is, in fact, an enemy of the people harm it causes to economic growth and social development hurts poor people the most.

There is another disturbing feature about Left-wing extremism. It opens its violent fangs off and on in many countries. Our good neighbour, Nepal is currently battling with these forces. Left wing extremism speaks the language of internationalism. In fact, it is a foe of the international community. What is important is that it should be fought not only by the security forces - which, of course has to be done. Even more important, perhaps, is that such ideologies should receive no direct or indirect legitimacy in intellectual quarters, as often happens in many countries including in India.

As far as India is concerned, I assure you that the Central Government has been working in close cooperation with the concerned State Governments in combating this menace.

The other threat to internal security is organized crime, which with its links to international terrorist networks, often threatens the prospects of the various segments of the economy. The Indian entertainment industry is also targeted by such criminal elements.

Similarly corruption in high places is another destabilizing factor that has to be addressed in ensuring economic security and improving the business environment. Corruption in high places breeds corruption in low places. Combating corruption and weakening the nexus between political, bureaucratic and vested interests is a major task.

Responsibility of business houses

In this context, I must also say a strong word about the responsibility of businesses in combating corruption in the corridors of power. Do not violate or short-change established laws and policies for achieving short-term gains for your own individual businesses. Do not try to undercut each other through unhealthy corporate battles. By doing so, you harm the interests of Indian business as a whole.

If I may give an example, I'll just quote what my colleague Shri Arun Shourie has been saying publicly. He says that the Governments disinvestment pogramme has not been proceeding smoothly because of hurdles created by business rivalries, in which the contenders often use politicians to either promote their own interest or harm the interests of their rivals. Does this help anybody? Does it help the cause of economic reforms? Does it help the country?

Proper governance will go a long way in building necessary social capital needed for promoting growth. This is because most of the social infrastructure facilities like educational institutions and health facilities are run under government supervision. Improving the quality of the social infrastructure services through proper governance will go a long way in improving human capital and the overall productivity of the economy.

Better governance should also focus on building up a cohesive national ethos. Harmony across regions, ethnic groups and communities can only be ensured through proper governance. Such efforts along with strengthening of democratic institutions will also help to reduce terrorism.

With these words, I again thank the organisers for inviting me to this session.

Thank you.