印度国大党(The Indian National Congress)

　　印度国大党,现主要反对党,议会人民院第二大党。1885年成立,是亚洲现存最古老的政党,领导了印度独立运动。现任主席索尼亚·甘地,副主席拉胡尔·甘地。
　　The Indian National Congress, established in 1885, currently the oldest political party in Asia, is the second largest party in the Lok Sabha (India’s House of the People) and the main opposition party. It played a leading role in India’s independent movement. Its current leader is Sonia Gandhi.

ICAPP SPECIAL CONFERENCE ON “REBUILDING THE SILK ROAD”
BEIJING, DURING OCTOBER 14-16, 2015
ADDRESS BY MR. ANIL SHASTRI

At the outset, I would like to thank the Communist Party of China for having invited me to this very important conference on “Rebuilding the Silk Road”. I represent the Indian National Congress headed by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. This is my 2nd visit to China and 1st visit to Beijing, the capital of this great country.
China and India are amongst the largest economies in the world. Yet, the engagement between their economies remains modest at best and people-to-people contact is minuscule. Will the various Silk Roads proposed by China including the Bangladesh-China- India-Myanmar Economic Corridor and the Maritime Silk Road offer India beneficial ways to engage with China and the world? How could Sino-Indian economic connectivity help India in achieving its goals of rapid, equitable, balanced, and sustainable development? We have to see how the complementary capabilities of India and China can unleash innovation and creativity in both countries, addressing common people's concerns as well as rejuvenating the economies of countries in the neighbourhood.
India and China are two of the world’s oldest civilisations, which have contributed immensely to humanity’s artistic, cultural, and scientific heritage. Over the last six decades, these two large and populous countries have focused their efforts on development, starting from dire poverty, violence, and social unrest. In this, China has been spectacularly successful and India with a reasonable record. So it is not surprising that both countries are regarded as upcoming global powers that will shape the future of the world in many ways. In historical terms, the rising trajectories of China and India merely represent a movement towards the restoration of their respective positions 200 years ago. Yet, this phenomenon causes anxiety among those Western powers that have enjoyed dominance in global affairs so far but who now face the prospect of a changing world order with the rise of a number of nations with growing economic and geopolitical weight. This anxiety is felt more over China and India due to their outstanding record of economic and social transformation. They are viewed as a formidable challenge.
If India and China are to reconnect under this new paradigm, the key is  connectivity. Goods, services, people, and ideas need to travel from A to B safely and securely, whether through physical or virtual pathways. The Silk Roads are a metaphor and also an exemplar for such connectivity. In using the term “Silk Roads,” China has astutely appropriated an attractive and recognisable brand name with historic provenance to label what are essentially a set of roads, railways, sea routes, infrastructure, and pipelines. India could choose to accept some of these offerings, ignore others, and even build some of its own. But if it shies away from connectivity, India risks being isolated in world trade, and to render itself irrelevant as Myanmar did 30 years ago. India needs to reimagine its outreach to its extended neighbourhood, and its policies concerning its own borderlands. In doing so, it is instructive to examine the core concepts of the Silk Roads. The Silk Roads represent only the latest—and dramatic—demonstration of China’s economic outreach initiatives which have been built on four time-tested principles.
First, that boundaries are connectors rather than separators; second, that China’s border provinces are empowered and encouraged to conduct a range of economic and people-to-people activities with neighbouring countries; third, that the centre will back such provincial initiatives with finances and expertise to build connectivity and infra structure; and fourth, that the objectives of such outreach must be based on mutuality of outcomes and “common prosperity.” The Silk Roads carry forward these themes, and in recent months, the initiatives have been strengthened by China’s announcement of a special fund of $40 billion to support these ventures. In addition, one presumes that the recently established Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (and the BRICS’ [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] New Development Bank in due course) will fund some of the projects.
People-to-people bond provides the public support for implementing the Initiative. We should carry forward the spirit of friendly cooperation of the Silk Road by promoting extensive cultural and academic exchanges, personnel exchanges and cooperation, media cooperation, youth and women exchanges and volunteer services, so as to win public support for deepening bilateral and multilateral cooperation.
We should strengthen cooperation with neighboring countries on epidemic information sharing, the exchange of prevention and treatment technologies and the training of medical professionals, and improve our capability to jointly address public health emergencies. We will provide medical assistance and emergency medical aid to relevant countries, and carry out practical cooperation in maternal and child health, disability rehabilitation, and major infectious diseases including AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We will also expand cooperation on traditional medicine.
We should increase exchanges and cooperation between non-governmental organizations to organize public interest activities concerning education, healthcare, poverty reduction, biodiversity and ecological protection for the benefit of the general public, and improve the production and living conditions of poverty-stricken areas particularly in India. We should enhance international exchanges and cooperation on culture and media, and leverage the positive role of the Internet and new media tools to foster harmonious and friendly cultural environment and public opinion.
To conclude, I would say the time has come for Asian countries to come together on various issues concerning humankind.