On the last day of the World Economic Forum meeting in New Delhi, Palaniappan Chidambaram said the “clipping rate” of India’s economic growth had created “deep divisions within society”.
However, the minister assured executives that the government was “alive” to the domestic and international security challenges it faced.
India’s most serious internal security threat comes from Maoist rebels, known as Naxalites, who have taken over resource-rich areas where state governance is weak. Mr Chidambaram said he was not asking Naxalites to lay down their arms, but that the government was prepared to talk.
Rs730bn ($15.5bn, €10.5bn, £9.4bn) of India’s stimulus plan has been set aside for an ambitious road infrastructure plan in Naxalite-occupied states such as Madhya Pradesh. Last week the minister of road transport and highways, Shri Kamal Nath, told a meeting of ministers in New Delhi that illegal occupants of the land would be dealt with in a “fierce manner”.
Mr Chidambaram also said that, since the attacks on Mumbai last November, the Indian government had increased its intelligence capacity as well as its police force.
India is facing pressure to commit to its promises of building up needed infrastructure for foreign companies to enter the domestic market. Carlos Ghosn, Renault and Nissan chief executive, told WEF participants that India now needed to “execute its plans” so that growth would follow.
Mr Chidambaram also noted that the security issue in India’s north eastern border states, where tribal groups are fighting for independence, were, “by and large, under control”.
Alexandra Stevenson
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