Manmohan Singh Quotes

[Urbanization] is the inevitable outcome of the processes of growth and the processes of modernization.

Unity and secularism will be the motto of the government. We can't afford divisive polity in India.

We are a coalition government, and that limits our options in some ways. Privatization happens to be one such area.

India happens to be a rich country inhabited by very poor people.

Capitalism historically has been a very dynamic force, and behind that force is technical progress, innovation, new ideas, new products, new technologies, and new methods of managing teams.

Together with international unity and resolve we can meet the challenge of this global scourge and work to bring about an international law of zero tolerance for terrorism.

We are a mixed economy. We will remain a mixed economy. The public and private sector will continue to play a very important role. The private sector in our country has very ample scope and I am confident that India's entrepreneurs have the capacity, and the will to rise to the occasion.

No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.

No nation, no society, no community can hold its head high and claim to be part of the civilized world if it condones the practice of discriminating against one half of humanity represented by women.

The Indian economy grew at 5.5 percent, but if you look at the last 30 years - for example, 1960 to 1985 - the progress made by East Asian countries was phenomenal. In a single generation they had been able to transform the character of their economy. They were able to get rid of chronic poverty.

Agribusiness and food processing are important parts of modernizing our economy, of modernizing our agriculture and moving into a phase where a more modernized agriculture helps not only farmers but also helps consumers.

Nobody should be allowed to tinker with democracy. We will not discontinue the good works of the past government.

Protectionism is a very real danger. It is understandable that in times of a severe downturn protectionist pressures mount but the lessons of history are clear. If we give in to protectionist pressures, we will only send the world into a downward spiral.

Outsourcing, information technology revolution, the access to India's human resources, India's pool of scientists. It will help American companies to become leaner, meaner, more efficient, and they become more competitive, both in the United States and in dealing with the rest of the world.

Life is never free of contradictions

My top most priority is to deal with India's massive social and economic problems, so that chronic poverty, ignorance and disease can be conquered in a reasonably short period of time.

Ethical and responsible behavior needs to become the cornerstone of corporate behavior

Yes, I think India's economy always has been a mixed economy, and by Western standards we are much more of a market economy than a public sector-driven economy.

Protectionism has to be avoided. Protectionism is not only on goods but also in the area of services. Financial protectionism is also bad and should be avoided.

I do believe that the future of civilization belongs to those who would lay emphasis on working together instead of talking about clash of civilizations.

With the revolution in information technology, with the revolution in transport technologies, I think just geography has lost its all significance.

If you have a rigidly controlled economy, cut off from the rest of the world by infinite protection, nobody has any incentive to increase productivity and to bring new ideas.

The first and foremost priority is to finish the unfinished task which the founding fathers of India set out for us at the time of our independence: to get rid of chronic poverty, ignorance, and disease, which have afflicted millions and millions of our people.

The premature migration of very large numbers of people from rural areas to urban areas can give rise to a lot of strains to the urban infrastructure, which can also create problems of crime - law-and-order problems.

India was a late comer to industrialization, and as such, we have contributed very little to the accumulation of greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. But we are determined to be part of the solution to the problem.

We need multiculturalism, respect for diversity, tolerance, respect for diverse faiths.

India is this great experiment of a billion people of such great diverse persuasions working together, seeking their salvation in the framework of a democracy. I believe it will have some lessons for all the multicultural societies.

So outside agriculture, in manufacturing and services, we must create a lot more jobs. But that also means that we must ensure that our systems of general education and technical education are in line with the job requirements that a more modern manufacturing and a more modern services sector would require.

I'm a small person put in this big chair.

Those who create wealth should be shown the greatest respect.

I am not very good at statistics. I am also a poor thinker.

I do believe that India is a unique case. And you need I think exceptional skills I think to incorporate Indian into the world nuclear order.

If Pakistan honors in letter and in spirit the commitment that it gave to Mr. Vajpayee in 2004, that Pakistan territory will not be used for promoting terrorist acts against India, the sky is the limit of cooperation between our two countries. Basically, we are the same people. There are ties of religion. There are ties of language. There are ties of culture.

I have to create in India a macroeconomic environment where the employment in aggregate can go up at a handsome rate. Once that happens, people losing jobs in one sector will not mean that they will become perpetually unemployed. From one sector, they can move on to other sectors.

I can assure you we are a responsible nuclear power.

We all know the epicentre of terrorism in the world today is Pakistan. The world community has to come to grips with this harsh reality.

There was a research I think team, which conducted a survey about what Indians think of Americans, and 71 percent I believe said, well, I think all the nice things about our working together with the United States. But there are people I think that are old mind-sets, who still I think remain mired in the Cold War ideology.

What we need is a dialogue amongst civilizations.

We got government off the backs of the people of India, particularly off the backs of India's entrepreneurs. We introduced more competition, both internal competition and external competition. We simplified and rationalized the tax system. We made risk-taking much more attractive.

I think the modernization of Chinese economy and Chinese society is a prime concern.

We have to walk on two legs. We have to create conditions in which manufacturing and services - the economy outside agriculture - move and move fast enough. And at the same time the working force that is available must have skills which will fit the kind of jobs which will be in demand.

If you don't have a functioning financial system the world economy won't be revived. All the major economies have their responsibility to assist at a pace which is required to clean up the balance sheet of the banking system and to ensure that credit flows are resumed.

Democracy is good for world peace.

What India needs most is a unified food law.

If the economy is not expanding, the redistribution of income becomes a zero-sum game. And therefore, all the class struggle - and it becomes much more vicious.

I sincerely believe what happens in India has, I think, lessons, morals for the future evolution of humankind in the 21st century.

Sachin Tendulkar is a guy you don't want to chat to period, because he will knuckle down- Brett Lee tells you why one must never sledge Sachin Tendulkar It is an amazing achievement to play for the country for over two decades and still continue to be the team's anchor. Sachin makes all of us so very proud

The salvation of the world ultimately lies in moving towards universal nuclear disarmament, but that's a long distance away.

The Chinese have certain advantages. The fact that it's a single party government. But I do believe in the long run the fact that India is a functioning democracy committed to the rule of law. Our system is slow to move but I'm confident that once decisions are taken they are going to be far more durable.

Let me say that I think the economic history of the last 150 years clearly shows that if you want to industrialize a country in a short period, let us say 20 years, and you don't have a well-developed private sector, entrepreneurial class, then central planning is important.