Last week I attended the high level meeting organized by the Europe-India Chamber of Commerce. Held at the European Parliament in Brussels, it was an interesting conference. The thing that struck me most was the high calibre speeches made by the representatives of the Government of India.

Kamal Nath, India’s minister of commerce and industry, compared India with Europe where many states with different languages strive to provide a single economic entity. He also stressed that the India specific economic model was all inclusive and that therefore no bubble had burst as they had in the economies of the Asian Tigers last decade.

With trade with Europe up by 24% this year his confidence is not surprising nor misplaced. “Indian people always worked hard to improve the lives of their children. Now there is the belief that we can improve our lives now” he said. “Synergy between technology and innovation is required to be globally competitive”.

“It is clear that the past is there to reflect upon. With 25 million people per year joining the middle class Incredible India”, referring to their tourism marketing campaign, “is in business”.

Sam Pitroda, chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, also mentioned that innovation and entrepreneurship could bring this to the Bottom Of the Pyramid. “Technology is borderless, the mind is the limit” he said. One good example shown during the conference was the trade exchange by the Finance Technologies (India) Ltd.

Dr Karan Singh, President Indian Council for Cultural Relations, made an impressive appearance. He said that “culture is like the Sarasvati* river: where two cultures come together there is this underlying influence we cannot see.

At that time guru Ravi Shankar had also joined the conference for a moment of meditation. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and prior commitments, I could not attend the conference the next day which was more in line for guruji: “Corporate Culture and Spirituality”. Being a Controller I would have loved to have been there.

• The confluence of the holy rivers Ganges and Yamuna has importance in the Hindu religion and mythology. According to Hindu belief the invisible Sarasvati river joins here also.

• Management