anirudhsankar/PMIndia-SpeechDataset-2004-2024 huggingface dataset:
PM's remarks at the Joint Press Conference after the India-EU Summit
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: September 29, 2008 Marseille, France

PM's remarks at the Joint Press Conference after the India-EU Summit Hindi Version "At the outset, I would like to thank President Sarkozy for the most gracious hospitality that has been extended to me and to my delegation in this beautiful city of Marsellies. I have had very useful and constructive discussions with President Sarkozy and EC President Barroso. Our partnership based on shared values and commitment to democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms and pluralism is an important pillar of the emerging international order. We shared assessments of our respective regions and exchanged ideas on major global issues. This included the current international financial crisis, need for reform of international institutions, including of the United Nations, energy and food security, climate change and terrorism. We have agreed to achieve an annual bilateral trade turnover of 100 billion Euro within the next five years and to work towards the conclusion of the India-EU Broad based Trade and Investment Agreement by end-2008. We reviewed the Joint Action Plan adopted in 2006 and agreed to add several new areas of cooperation. These include vocational training, post harvest technologies, exploitation of solar energy in India and civil nuclear research and development including in fusion energy. We discussed various issues related to counter terrorism, including cooperation between Europol and counterpart organisations in India. We have also launched Joint Working Programme on Energy, Clean Development and Climate Change. This provides for collaboration in clean coal technologies, energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change adaptation and mitigation and financing and transfer of climate friendly technologies. The Horizontal Civil Aviation Agreement between India and the EU was signed yesterday. We have also decided to work towards the finalisation of Memorandums of Understanding in the field of education and culture. I am extremely satisfied with my discussions today. The holding of annual Summits between India and the EU reflects the importance both sides place on this relationship. It is our belief that the India-EU strategic partnership contributes to global peace, prosperity and stability. I am confident that our relations will continue to grow and diversify on the basis of the many synergies and complementarities that exist between us."
Statement by PM on his departure to the United States and France
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: September 22, 2008 New Delhi

Statement by PM on his departure to the United States and France Hindi Version "I am leaving for New York to attend the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly. India has consistently attached importance to the central role of the United Nations in promoting global peace, stability and development. I look forward to addressing the UN General Assembly and attending the UN High Level Event on the Millennium Development Goals. I will use the opportunity to articulate India's conviction that the contemporary challenges of our times are best addressed through collective and multilateral approaches. I will draw the world community's attention to the need for the reform of international institutions, including of the United Nations, and to address global challenges such as the food and energy crises, terrorism and progress on the Millennium Development Goals. During my stay in New York, I also look forward to bilateral meetings with some of the visiting leaders, including of China, Italy, Namibia, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. I also plan to meet a group of US CEOs, and members of the Indian-American community, both of whom have contributed to the consolidation of relations between India and the United States. At the invitation of President Bush I will visit Washington. I look forward to my discussions with him on the entire range of issues on our bilateral agenda with the United States, including our civil nuclear initiative. In recent years our relations have expanded significantly in areas of interest to us such as education, trade, business, technology, energy and agriculture. The engagement between the two countries has strengthened and we are pursuing the multi-faceted cooperation to our mutual benefit. We attach high value to our excellent relations with the European Union. The next India-EU Summit in Marseilles under the Presidency of France, which I will be attending, is part of the practice of annual Summit meetings between us. The European Union is our largest trading partner with whom we enjoy a multi-faceted strategic partnership. India and Europe are bound by the common values of democracy and pluralism. We have diverse areas of cooperation, including in the area of counter-terrorism, which I will seek to strengthen. I look forward to attending the India-EU Business Summit being held on the sidelines of our Summit. I will pay a bilateral visit to France at the invitation of President Sarkozy. India's relations with France are longstanding and of strategic importance. I am confident that my visit will lead to the further consolidation of our relations in the areas of trade and investment, defence, space, civil nuclear cooperation and high technology."
PM's opening remarks at the meeting of Planning Commission on Integrated Energy Policy
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: September 20, 2008 New Delhi

PM's opening remarks at the meeting of Planning Commission on Integrated Energy Policy Hindi Version "This meeting of the Planning Commission has been called to discuss a draft Integrated Energy Policy document prepared by the Planning Commission. Energy is a crucial input in our development and our energy requirement for growth is indeed very large. From all available information, we are also likely to be increasingly import-dependent. This makes us vulnerable to uncertainty of international prices and also reliability of supplies. It is therefore important to undertake optimal exploitation of domestic energy resources with a view to increasing our country's energy security. We also need to explore the scope for acquiring energy assets abroad. Energy pricing is a key component of energy policy, since appropriate energy prices must provide the incentives needed for efficient use of energy and also the incentive for investment in expanding supplies. Currently, policies relating to individual energy sectors are set by a number of different ministries reflecting historical evolution. This means the policies followed in different sectors are not always internally consistent. It is therefore, critical that we evolve an Integrated Energy Policy based on a consistent application of economic principles across different energy sources. To this end, I had asked Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission to constitute an expert committee to suggest such a policy. An expert committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Dr. Kirit Parikh, Member (Energy), Planning Commission and this group had submitted its report in August 2006. The report suggested a comprehensive energy policy for the country, with many specific recommendations. Subsequently, at the Energy Coordination Committee, I had directed the Cabinet Secretary to discuss with the concerned Ministries the implementation of these recommendations. The recommendations were comprehensively discussed and we have made some progress in implementing some of the recommendations by the concerned ministries. Action has been initiated on other recommendations, but we are as yet far from complete implementation. This is not surprising since full implementation has far reaching implications and necessarily will take time. Although the approach of the Report on Integrated Energy Policy has been reflected in the Eleventh Plan we felt there is merit in adopting an Integrated Energy Policy that can guide policy in individual energy sectors in the years ahead. The draft policy document, circulated for this meeting seeks to present such a framework indicating the principles which should guide energy policy in the years ahead. I now request Deputy Chairman to briefly introduce the document after which I will welcome comments from Ministers especially those responsible for the energy sectors."
PM launches Apollo Reach Hospitals
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: September 5, 2008 Chennai

PM launches Apollo Reach Hospitals Hindi Version "I am happy to be here on the occasion of the launch of Apollo Reach Hospitals, a major healthcare initiative taken by Apollo in their 25th year. For me, this is also a moment of personal satisfaction. I was among those who tried to persuade Dr. Pratap C. Reddy to return to India and use his professional expertise to make a difference here. It is gratifying to see how through his visionary leadership and enterprise, the Apollo group has grown to provide quality health care to so many of our people. The challenge of providing health care in a country like India is complex. Good health outcomes are not simply a matter of availability of health care providers. They depend on a number of concomitant factors like water supply and sanitation, education, and infant nutrition. The intricate connection between poverty and ill-health is obvious and as Jawaharlal Nehru said, "a war on disease and ill health is therefore essentially a war on poverty and all its evil brood". Along with education and employment, health has been a major priority of our government in the last four years. We have tried to address the serious deficiencies in the rural public health system through the National Rural Health Mission. I am happy to say that the Mission is beginning to show positive results on the ground. These must be consolidated. The challenge of providing affordable quality health care to our people cannot be left only to the state. The private sector has always played a dominant role in the provision of health care services in the country. The nature of private health care provisioning in India is extremely diverse. It ranges from the village level provider of alternative systems of medicine to high quality specialty hospitals. This entire range of societal capacity created in the health sector is something that we need to build on. I understand that Apollo Reach Hospitals will ensure provision of reliable, efficient and accessible community health care in the non metro regions of the state. I am sure that this innovative model, which has tele-medicine at its core and integrates technology with the provision of health care, would be an ideal example of how an effective outreach programme can be planned and implemented. I congratulate Dr. Pratap Reddy and his team for designing this community service programme. Competence and commitment that mark the Apollo group of hospitals will now reach a much larger group of people. May such efforts multiply. Dr. Pratap Reddy is a role model for many in the medical fraternity who aspire to emulate his example. There is today a surge of interest among Indians settled abroad to come back to set up health facilities in India. The Indian opportunity has excited professional interest in the medical community and this augurs well for the country. I wish the new venture all success. I hope it will mark a new beginning in reaching out to the unserved and the underserved in the area of health services."
PM releases P. R.  Kyndiah's Book
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: September 2, 2008 New Delhi

PM releases P. R.  Kyndiah's Book Hindi Version "It is for me a matter of great pleasure and privilege to release this, in many ways, a unique book which celebrates the joys of walking and indeed which makes walking not only a means of promoting good and sound health but also which helps to raise the consciousness and makes it almost a spiritual experience. Kyndiahji has just told us about the various quotes and verses which are mentioned in that book and that walking with those thoughts, I am sure, can contribute great deal to both physical health and mental health of the individual who has the privilege of going through this book. This is an aspect of Kyndiahji's personality, I did not know much about. I know he has been a distinguished man in public life long before India's Independence, he worked with Rev. J.J. M. Nichols Roy, for getting the tribal societies their rightful place and that the Constitution of India has the Sixth Schedule that it recognises the rights of tribal societies to manage their affairs, that it gives an important place in our Constitution to autonomous district council functioning within the Sixth Schedule, I think Kyndiahji along with Rev. J.J.M. Nichols Roy contributed to the realisation of these aspirations of tribal society. Even before India became independent, I am told, he served as the Chairperson of the Municipal Body of Shillong when Shillong was a part of the united state of Assam, twenty three years as a Member of the Legislature, as Minister, as Speaker, three times consecutively as Member of Lok Sabha and now my colleague as a Minister of Tribal Affairs and I am told, we will soon be expecting from him another book which deals with problems of tribal India and I do look forward with great expectation to that book and with these words, I once again congratulate Kyndiahji for having produced a very thoughtful book which makes even such a simple thing as walking a joyful experience and indeed as he said, a spiritual experience."
PM's statement on terrorist attack in Ahmedabad
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: July 28, 2008 Ahmedabad

PM's statement on terrorist attack in Ahmedabad Hindi Version Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhiji, Home Minister Shri Shivraj Patilji, and I have come to express our solidarity with the people of Gujarat in their hour of crisis.  I commend the people of Gujarat for the resilience they have shown.  These terrorist acts are aimed at destroying our social fabric, undermining communal harmony and demoralizing our people.  As the people of Gujarat have shown so admirably, these efforts will not succeed.  We will rise to the challenge and I am confident we will be able to defeat these forces. All political parties, the Central and State Governments, the Central and State police and intelligence authorities and civil society groups should cooperate and work together to this end.  In this hour of tragedy, my heart goes out to those who have lost their near and dear ones.  I offer my sympathies to those injured.  We will do our best to take care of them.  And my deepest prayers for the departed souls.
PM's opening remarks at the Joint Press Interaction
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: April 9, 2008 New Delhi

PM's opening remarks at the Joint Press Interaction Hindi Version "We have just concluded the First India-Africa Forum Summit. This is a historic Summit between India and countries representing the AU and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa. Over the last two days we have held extremely substantive and productive discussions on all issues which confront India and Africa. The Summit was held in an atmosphere of great friendship, warmth and sense of partnership. The Summit has adopted the Delhi Declaration and the Africa-India Framework for Cooperation. These documents constitute the blueprint for our cooperation in the 21st Century. Our decision to expand unilateral duty free and preferential market access for exports from all the 50 Least Developed Countries, 34 of which are in Africa, and our offer of lines of credit amounting to $5.4 billion are steps in this direction. The enhancement of our budget for technical assistance and training programmes and, greater opportunities for African students to pursue studies in India reflect the priority we attach to human resource development and capacity building. In the Retreat yesterday, we had a very constructive discussion on issues such as food and energy security, UN reforms, climate change and trade. We found several commonalities in the challenges that face us and in our aspirations. I offered Indian assistance in ushering in a Green Revolution in Africa through holistic capacity building in agricultural production, storage and transportation. While we have met over these two days at the government level we have also undertaken several outreach events before or concurrent with the Summit. These are: (i) the first ever India-Africa Editors Conference; (ii) joint performances by Indian and African cultural troupes; (iii) a seminar of intellectuals from Africa and India on India-Africa Partnership in the 21st century; (iv) a programme for youth and women from Africa and (v) a business conclave. India has also begun to develop cooperation with the Regional Economic Communities of Africa and with the African Union (AU). India's pan-African e-network project is an example of our cooperation at the continent wide level. We have laid firm foundations on which to build the new framework of cooperation. It is now time to plan ahead to implement the joint programmes of cooperation and to build a meaningful and productive Indo-African partnership. India looks forward to doing so with all the resources at our disposal. We greatly cherish the friendship and empathy that Africa has always shown to India. This is an asset to our foreign policy. We in turn hope that this Summit has enabled us to convey to the people of Africa India's readiness to be a partner in their quest for stability, peace and prosperity. I would like to conclude by thanking my colleagues from Africa for their active participation in the Summit and for their whole-hearted endorsement for a stronger and deeper India-Africa partnership."
PM's Opening Statement at the Joint Press Interaction with Russian PM
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: February 12, 2008 New Delhi

PM's Opening Statement at the Joint Press Interaction with Russian PM Hindi Version "I am very pleased to welcome Prime Minister Zubkov and his distinguished delegation to India. Prime Minister Zubkov's visit to India comes within three months of my own visit to Russia in November, 2007. Such high level exchanges between India and Russia reflect the time tested nature of the close and special ties that exist between our two countries. Prime Minister Zubkov and I have had an extremely productive and comprehensive discussion on all aspects of our relationship. I conveyed to the Prime Minister the importance we attach to his participation in the meeting of the Indo-Russia Forum on Trade and Investment and the "Year of Russia" in India. Later today, I will be accompanying the Prime Minister to formally inaugurate the "Year of Russia" in India. In our discussions, we agreed to re-double our efforts to tap the full potential of our two economies. We agreed on the need to diversify our trade basket, and expand cooperation in sectors such as minerals, diamonds, transport and infrastructure, investment and services, and high technology. For this we will operationalise the Joint Task Force to implement recommendations to increase bilateral trade to US$ 10 billion by 2010 and consider a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. We agreed that there was vast potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the area of hydrocarbons. I expressed my hope that ongoing discussions between our oil and gas companies would result in finalization of joint projects in India, Russia and third countries. We expressed our satisfaction at the status of our ongoing collaboration in the fields of science and technology, space and civil nuclear cooperation. We have finalised negotiations in regard to reaching an agreement on cooperation in the construction of additional nuclear power plants in India. We reaffirmed our commitment to build upon our defence relations which is an important pillar of our Strategic Partnership. Our talks today have reaffirmed our joint commitment to further strengthen Indo-Russian relations for the mutual benefit and prosperity of our two peoples, and for our region and the world. Thank you."
PM's Statement to the Press in Beijing
Speaker: Dr.Manmohan Singh
Date: January 14, 2008 Beijing, China

PM's Statement to the Press in Beijing Hindi Version "It is a pleasure and honour for me to be in Beijing. I have always looked forward to my meetings with Premier Wen, and to benefit from his great wisdom knowledge and experience. I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of China and Premier Wen Jiabao, for the courtesy and warmth of their hospitality. Our talks were held in an atmosphere of sincerity, warmth and friendship. They were constructive and forward looking. This gives me cause for optimism for the future of our ties. India-China relations are of regional and global significance. The profound changes taking place in the world today present both our countries with a historic opportunity to work together towards a 21st century that is conducive to peace and development. The Shared Vision of the 21st Century that Premier Wen and I have just signed is an important milestone in the evolution of our relations. It reflects not only our common perceptions but also our desire to purposefully cooperate in the future. We have agreed to continue deepening the mutual understanding and trust between our armed forces. We welcomed the successful conclusion off our first joint military training exercise, and agreed to have a second exercise in India this year. We recognized that our strategic and cooperative partnership should be based on strong, diversified and mutually beneficial economic ties. We have decided to increase our bilateral trade target from 40 billion US dollars by the year 2010 to 60 billion US dollars. We have mandated our Ministers of commerce to examine the Feasibility Study on the Benefits of a Regional Trading Arrangement and make suitable recommendations at an early date. We have decided to establish a high level Business Leaders Forum to advise us on the future of our economic ties. We had useful discussions on the outstanding issue of the Boundary Question. We welcomed the progress made by our Special Representatives in seeking a framework for settlement of the boundary question that is fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable, and based on the Agreement on Guiding Principles and Political Parameters signed in April 2005. While the Special Representatives continue their efforts, both sides reiterated their mutual commitment to maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas. I Conveyed India's appreciation for China's assistance in providing flood season date for some of our trans-borders rivers Premier Wen and I agreed that we will continue to expand our cooperation in this area through the Expert level Mechanism. Science & Technology is another priority area and we have identified earthquake engineering, disaster management, climate change, biotechnology and nano sciences as areas for further cooperation. We have decided to intensify high-level exchanges between our two countries. I have invited Premier Wen to visit India at his earliest convenience."