Now consider this in our system. Time is not valued, whether dealing with government files or applications for doing business, doing this, doing that, our system doesn’t value time and that’s one weakness of the Indian system that worries me a great deal.

We have to work, therefore, to create a new mindset. Some ten days ago, I was in Singapore and had the privilege of meeting Premier Wen Jiabao of China, for whom I have great admiration, both for him and President Hu Jintao. I have met both about five to six times. The type of leadership that China has produced since the days of Deng, I think, is the greatest asset that China has.

During my visit, Wen Jiabao gave an address to the University of Singapore in defence of opening up and the moral of that beautiful lecture was: “If you really want to get rid of poverty, if you want to become a nation that really counts, you have no option but to open up.” Going back in China’s history for centuries, he said whenever China shut its door to the outside world, it went down. Whenever it had the vision to look outward, it prospered.

I think my purpose in quoting all that is to say that all of us have an obligation. The decisions that we make or don’t make — and that applies to politicians, businessmen, trade unions and all other important agents of social change —will have profound implications on the future of our country.

... contd.