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 Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo takes a keen interest in India - something he says goes back to his first visit here in the eighties. He also plays an active role in the Nalanda project. In an interview with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV 24x7’s Walk the Talk, he talks about the difference in the ways in which tiny Singapore and large India deal with diversity, about how India has changed over the last few decades, and about how the world looks at China

•Welcome to Walk the Talk. My guest this week is one of the most youthful diplomats you’ve seen — a foreign minister representing a very tiny country, one of the smallest in the world, yet somebody who carries a big, heavy voice not just in Asia but all over the world, Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo.

Thank you very much.

•Sometimes I wonder that you know more about Indian politics than many of us do. Do you have an India fascination?

Yes. I first came to India in 1986 to attend a friend’s wedding deep in the south. That was my first encounter with India. While traveling to Madras, I remember joining the queue. Indian passengers had all kinds of gadgets from Singapore. And they had to clear Customs methodically, and the officer was punctilious. He checked every item and would go over them with green ink. That was the Indian bureaucratic entry point. I was quite impressed.

•My favourite humourist, P.G. O’Rourke, came to India when India tested its nukes the second time. He said, “We Americans have nothing to worry about India’s nuclear weapons. Because before India launches a nuclear missile on us, 30 Customs officers will tear it apart and examine every part for exportability.”

I think Indians have this wonderful, almost charming ability to laugh at themselves. That says a lot for you.

•Where would we go if we didn’t?

The Indian bureaucracy has changed a lot since then. Of course, you’ve got a long way to go. But it’s much better than what it was in the past.

•One of the things that you’ve said is that Singapore was governed from Calcutta. The same bureaucracy, the same British system set up the two, isn’t it?

Well, we’re much smaller. Our margins for survival are much narrower. We had to take a more practical approach. And adopt a simpler system. Whereas in your case, it’s a big country, and without two institutions holding the country together, I’ve said this earlier, without the civil service and the army, the idea of a united India would’ve been much more difficult.

•One more thing that not many people know about you is that you were in the Singapore armed forces.

I was in the army and the air force. I remember visiting Khadakvasala in 1988. The National Defence Academy. Because it is a tri-service academy, we wanted to learn from it. There I met the superintendent, a three-star general who was once upon a time a defence attaché in Singapore. He invited me to address a gathering, which I did. It was a very impressive gathering of young cadets. Tall Pathans, people with Mongloid features from the east. There I realised that this is a key institution holding the union together. It was an interesting experience for me. Do you know when I was an officer cadet in 1972, we had to study the law which created the Singapore armed forces. It was a thin document. The instructor told us to refer to the Indian army manual when there was a lacuna, which was a thick red book. Today, you probably still have that thick red book.

•You’re someone whose interest in India is original. It’s not inherited.

I think that’s a compliment. When I attended the wedding of my friend in Madurai, he introduced me to his aunt. Everyday, she would bring a bottle of boiled water to ensure we stay healthy. I realised there are many things we share in common. The jargon, even the body language. The aunt said we should stick to vegetarian food, because this way you’re less likely to have an upset stomach. I learnt all this from her. Years later when I visited IMA, I went to the physics lab and found the equipment was identical to what I used in school in Singapore. We had the same central supply office, the same logistics.

•You studied at Cambridge and Harvard. You’ll be too qualified to be a cabinet minister in India.

Don’t say that, please. You have very eminently qualified ministers. I mean, like P. Chidambaram. Eminently qualified.

•You are also part of a group at Harvard.

We meet regularly at conferences. I have very high respect for him.

•Is your fascination for India responsible for your interest in the Nalanda Project? You’re the father of the project.

Not at all.

•I mean, this quest for an Asian identity which you talk about?

When I was the Minister for Trade and Industry, Shri L.K. Advani was in Singapore on an official visit as Deputy PM. And I said, ‘Why don’t you promote Buddhist tourism in India? There are hundreds of millions of Buddhists in East Asia who want to visit these places of pilgrimage. He agreed with me and asked me to speak to Jagmohan, who was the tourism minister. Jagmohan, when he visited Singapore, said he could help. It was in our interest too. A year later, the Mahabodhi Temple in Gaya was designated as a world heritage site by UNESCO. He invited me to participate in the celebrations. We brought a flight full of Buddhist tourists from Singapore including twenty-five monks. We told them we’ll visit Nalanda etc and it fascinated me how in the age of globalisation we’re one world. And how in this century we’re coming together again. When I spoke to my Indian friends, they were also thinking along parallel tracks. I remember, when (former) President Abdul Kalam visited Singapore, I called on him for 15 minutes. The entire conversation was on Nalanda. It’s not just me, its many people who are interested in it. It’s an idea whose time has come.