India's economic strategy blunted global financial meltdown: Pranab

The Centre’s economic strategy has blunted the impact of the current global financial downturn, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said today. Referring to the world economic crisis, he said: “India’s strategy helped us to come out substantially unhurt,” even if not completely insulated.

Mukherjee, who was speaking after being honoured with the 2009 Lokmanya Tilak award here, said nobody would have imagined that the mighty US economy would be plunged into a crisis of such magnitude being witnessed at present.

“What should have remained confined to US banking system resulted in a global crisis,” he added.

The finance minister noted that India’s banking system rested on a sound footing following the nationalisation effected years ago. On the contrary, the bail-out packages in industrialised countries were being used to revive their banking sector, he added.

In addition to a difficult economic phase, the country had also undergone a traumatic experience of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Mukherjee said.

“However, the collective leadership of India adopted a mature approach and saved a critical situation,” he added.

India has not compromised its stand on terrorism and “...our tolerance and patience do not reflect weakness but underline our strength,” he said.

Paying tributes to the memory of Lokmanya Tilak on his 89th death anniversary today, Mukherjee said, he played a crucial role in India’s freedom struggle injecting a stimulus into the body politic of the country and rejected colonial exploitation by the British.

The Tilak award was handed over to Mukherjee for his distinguished services to the country by Dr Deepak Tilak who heads the Lokmanya Tilak trust.