Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's speech on occassion of 75th anniversary of India House, London

Before I begin, I would like to express my sincere condolences, and my sense of shock and outrage at the terrorist violence in London yesterday. The terrorism we witnessed yesterday has proven once again that none of our societies are free from this modern day scourge. As I said earlier, all civilized societies should join hands in the war against terror, wherever it is fought.

The people of India stand firm in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom in this hour of sorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We are gathered together to mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of one of our oldest chanceries. This is a special moment in the enduring history of the Indo-British encounter. When these great rosewood doors were unlocked by His Majesty King George V this day so many decades ago, India House became the new face of our ancient civilization in a brave new era.

The architects of this magnificent building intended it as a tribute to the myriad influences and cultures which constitute the mosaic that is India, in this great city.

His Majesty the King concluded his speech at the inauguration of this building by expressing the hope that India House would "foster links between the peoples of India and Great Britain". Indeed, this primary role of diplomatic missions the world over has been well performed by a galaxy of distinguished diplomats who have served at India House.

But more than being a modern-day landmark in London, India House is a time-mark, to coin a phrase, for these walls bore silent witness to the defining events that transformed the Indo-British relationship from one of domination and subjugation to an equal partnership based on mutual benefit. Since those eventful days of war, independence and partition, India House has played a key role in outlining our shared future. In this I include the creation of the modern Commonwealth. Today, civil servants who have had the honour of serving here can look back on their days with pride and satisfaction, for having redefined the nature and context of this very special encounter between our civilizations.

Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we mark a significant milestone such as this, I believe it is appropriate not only to dwell on the richness of our shared past, but to define a vision for our future. We should take stock of the current state of the Indo-British relationship, and the role of our diplomatic mission at India House in undertaking this task.

Today, the diplomatic method has less to do with a sense of political history and the persuasive powers of its practitioners. Important as these tools are, the vital role of the diplomat in today's globalized world has been radically altered by the complexities of techno-economic multilateralism. Meeting the challenge of instant news, instant analysis, and instant decisions require alertness and mental agility of a very high order. Sadly, as we have seen yesterday, the threat posed by non-state actors, ranging from conventional terrorists to hackers and white-collar criminals, has also raised the bar for our representatives abroad. Crafting a balance between traditional modes of diplomatic negotiation with the need for instant responses is a specific challenge that must be dealt with. As nations with a long history of excellence in the art of diplomacy, India and the UK are well placed to evolve appropriate solutions to such questions.

The Joint Declaration that Prime Minister Blair and I issued last September committed our two countries to a strategic partnership. Such a relationship enables us to bring together every element of our societies, including businessmen, academics, scientists and artists in common effort to develop new competencies. We must increase efforts to realize the untapped potential in the Indo-British partnership�not merely information or knowledge, because there is already a glut of data. Our focus must be to find new ground to anchor our relationship.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I therefore suggest that the Indo-British partnership of the 21st century should be based on greatly enhanced bilateral trade and investment flows, cooperation in the cutting edge of the knowledge revolution, and close cooperation in management of international security. I am happy to note that work is already proceeding apace on both sides to ensure that these avenues are further explored. Developing these aspects of our relationship will determine our success in forging a forward-looking partnership to establish a positive international security environment and a more just and equitable global order, based on sustainable development. In this context, I look forward to the visit of Prime Minister Blair to India later this year to add more weight to this special relationship.

Ladies and gentlemen, friends:

One of the special features of the enduring ties with Britain is the absence of rancour and bitterness. Indeed, there are few similar examples of such goodwill. Constructing the edifice of a strong and future-oriented strategic partnership on these foundations is the best tribute we can pay to our past. We owe this to ourselves for retaining the best elements of our partnership and for understanding the lessons of history without becoming captives of the past.

Managing these processes is a key task for our representatives in India House. Celebrating the seventy-fifth anniversary of this building is a good way to accelerate the process of drawing upon our past and further developing this relationship in future.

I thank all of you who are present here for participating in this special event.

Thank you.