India is a land of contrasts. Like the EU, it is made up of 28 states. Although 1.2 billion people live in India, as opposed to the EU’s 500 million inhabitants. Half of them have no electricity, at least a quarter of them are poor. When we spoke in the Indian Parliament about Poverty, the quiet answer was: you do not have poverty in Europe.
The primary objectives of this visit are to improve relations, increase mutual business, the protection of human rights and protecting the planet against pollution. In India, they’re open to collaboration, and today’s imports and exports with Europe are almost balanced, but still very low.
Indians are not burdened with the notion of a low-carbon economy and reducing CO2. They say that their per capita carbon footprint is ten times lower than that in Europe and America. First of all, they have to solve famine and poverty and to bring electricity to their citizens. For them, democracy is 60 years old, and so is the process of Indian unification. Democracy is incomparable with that in Europe, and so they say that we have to think Indian about India.
Before entering the Indian Parliament, we needed to leave our phones, electronic items, even paper and pencils with the officers. This great caution is also due to incidents in the past. Despite these complications, I was very excited to enter the Parliament. An incredible atmosphere, designed similarly to Roman arenas, parliamentarians and officials are dressed in the various costumes of Indian states. Opposition MPs had a loud discussion about access to health services and education. Members of the government listened, but there was no detectable distress. Many representatives recognized the problem of corruption that reaches into every pore and is literally built into the system. They emphasized support for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. They listened to our good practices in the development of environmental technologies, clean coal utilization technologies and rural development.
Our Meeting with the European ambassador Mr. Cravinho, representatives of the Observer Research Foundation, and experts for the future Free Trade Agreement between India and Europe were at times controversial. The EU would like to export cars, wines and other products, but the tariffs are high, some as high as 150%. So difficult are the questions that are meant to be solved by the future agreement, leading to increased exports to India, of both products and services. But first we must understand the realities of politics in India. It really is a very big market, but with great differences in culture and standards. Democracy is common to us, but by completely different definitions.
In the coming days, the visit will primarily be aimed at strengthening economic relations.
