"I am delighted to be associated with the 2nd Asia Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Gender Equality. The empowerment of women has been one of the most important social transformations we have seen in our lifetime in East Asia. Our Government seeks to impart a new sense of urgency to the task of ensuring gender equality in our society, in our polity, in our economic life and, above all, in our families and communities. I am, therefore, very happy to extend to each one of you a very warm welcome and we are very grateful for your participation in this very important conference.

India, Southeast Asia and East Asia are truly partners in progress. We are now actively engaged in the process of creation of an East Asian Community. Comprehensive Economic Co-operation Agreements have been concluded or are being negotiated with countries of the region. Since 1990, when our Look East Policy was initiated, our interaction with countries of the region has grown phenomenally and has become wide-ranging and comprehensive. India is and will be an active participant in Asia's resurgence in this new 21st century.

Historians and feminists have often complained that very few people's movements for freedom and democracy had given any attention to the issue of gender equality. Even the great French philosopher, Rousseau, famously stated that ignorance was entirely beneficial for women! We in India, however, have always celebrated the fact that the Father of our Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, drew women into our struggle for freedom from colonial rule. It is this legacy that manifested itself in our adopting a Constitution that gave our women equal political rights.

Principles of gender equality and women's rights are enshrined in our Constitution. It not only grants equality to women, but also advocates positive discrimination in favour of women, wherever necessary. These are reinforced through passage of new laws from time to time.

Our former Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi took the historic initiative of reserving 1/3rd of the seats in local bodies for women. In taking that initiative, he stated:

"Sound finance of the household has traditionally been the responsibility of women. Financial discipline and fiscal responsibility are ingrained in the habit and outlook of the women of rural India. These are qualities badly needed in Panchayati Raj Institutions. We believe the presence of women in large numbers in the Panchayat will make them more efficient, more honest, more disciplined and more responsible and more effective."

Today, more than a million women work as elected representatives in our local bodies. If more than one million women are getting elected, then a multiple of that number are participating in elections to these bodies. The mobilization of such large numbers of women in our public life constitutes a historic measure for gender equality. It has brought about a significant shift in public policy and in social attitude towards women.

We are committed to providing similar representation to women in our State Assemblies and the Central Parliament. We are working for a broad consensus in this important matter. We firmly believe that the participation of a critical mass of women in politics at the highest level will bring about a revolutionary change in ensuring good governance. The experience of other countries shows that greater participation of women in processes of governance does contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment.

Going beyond political representation, we have recently taken steps to improve the gender balance in our budgetary policies. Our Finance Ministry now prepares a Gender Budget that quantifies the Government's financial commitment to the cause of gender empowerment. There are Gender Budgeting Cells in all Ministries. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is constantly interacting with these cells for building capacities and facilitating the integration of gender analysis into Government's policies, plans, programmes and budgets.

Self-Help Groups, which have assumed the form of a broad based people's movement, are an important initiative for achieving gender equality. We have 2.2 million self-help groups located throughout the country, covering 33 million households. The micro credit programme, with a focused gender empowerment dimension, has impacted positively on the lives of women from less privileged sections of society.

Indeed, I do sincerely believe that the social and economic empowerment of women is the corner stone of any sustainable strategy of poverty eradication. My friend, and the Late Dr Mahbub ul Haq of Pakistan, who launched the UNDP's Human Development Reports, used to say that "If development is not engendered it would be endangered". I agree with this view.

Therefore, gender equality is a fundamental necessity for promoting social and economic development. Women's empowerment unleashes a potential that has remained suppressed for centuries. It enables societies to tap into the huge reservoir of talent in one half of the human race represented by women. By expanding opportunities for the full flowering of their vast latent talent and above all, creating conditions to fashion their own destiny, we can truly take steps for the advent of a new age of equality for our women.

If the education of women is combined with financial independence, then their empowerment gets a firm foundation. In fact true and meaningful gender equality will be achieved by educating women, providing gainful employment opportunities and ensuring their sufficient representation in legislative bodies. It requires a social movement to achieve this important goal. Let us initiate that movement now and become the torchbearers of a new movement for gender equality.

Your conference is also discussing issues relating to violence against women. Here too I am happy to state that our Government has taken legislative measures to protect women from domestic and social violence. We are making our laws and our law and order machinery more gender sensitive. But the real guarantee against violence against women is in our minds and attitudes. No law can substitute for a change in our mindsets. It is an inhuman act. No civilized society can allow such a practice. I hope your conference will find new ways in which we can prevent this practice in our societies.

Gender equality is also a very powerful and effective weapon against extremism, fanaticism, fundamentalism and political and social violence. In other words, gender equality is a building block of a secular and democratic edifice. I recall that during the last general elections in our country, a group of women issued a document called The Women's Manifesto. It was instructive to note that in that manifesto, they referred to the alarming rise of religious fundamentalism that excluded women from public life. They therefore wanted greater commitment from political parties to the ideals of liberalism and secularism for serving the cause of gender equality.

You are grappling with vital issues of social change. Women in our region have come a long way in our lifetime. But there is still a long road ahead of us in our journey to gender equality in all its many dimensions. I wish your deliberations all success."