Strasbourg, 25/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - Indian President Abdul Kalam was welcomed to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Wednesday as the representative of a country whose economic, political and cultural importance is of great significance to the EU and received the applause of MEPs who saw in him “a statesman, a scientist and a poet”, in the words of President Hans-Gert Pöttering. Mr Kamal, a former aeronautical expert who helped New Delhi develop nuclear weapons, wants to see his country's place on the world stage confirmed. He said he also wanted to make India a knowledge power and a developed country by 2020. He spoke warmly of the close links between India and the EU, a “unique and natural partner”. His speech, laced with experiences and popular Indian and spiritualistic sayings, expressed a vision of Indo-European relations contributing to world peace and prosperity. “… there are beautiful solutions from beautiful minds. Beautiful minds generate creativity. This is the common heritage of both India and Europe”, which inspired three basic missions for the two partners: the evolution of enlightened society; leading to energy independence; and creating a world knowledge platform.
This enlightened society was based on three points: education systems that teach common moral values, the transformation of the religious spirit into a spiritual force which unites and economic development to bring about a change in society. In India, the aim is to spread a model of fair growth, including in rural areas, he said, in order to become a developed country by 2020.
One solution to diminishing fossil fuels and a growing deterioration in the environment can be found in energy independence, he argued. With India having 17% of the world's population and only 8% of its known oil and gas resources, energy independence must focus on renewable energy (solar, wind and hydroelectric power), electricity from nuclear power and biofuels in the transport sector. He suggested setting up an Indo-European programme on developing renewable energy.
Bringing together Indian and European knowledge in research and development in a world knowledge platform would allow the development, production and marketing of products, systems and services in several areas, such as water, health, agriculture, transport and housing, said Mr Kalam, who favours union in diversity. (ab)