Speech by Shri. Amit Mitra, Secretary-General of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, on the felicitation programme of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, External Affairs Minister, on being conferred Padma Vibhushan, Kotah House, 8th March, 2008.

Honourable Shri Pranab Mukherjee, someone I had the honour of knowing for several decades with great respect and I must recognize here Mrs.Mukherjee, because the one who was there right through I have seen in my own life. So I would like to recognize not only Honourable Shri Pranab Mukherjee but Mrs. Mukherjee, whom I have also known over the years, stood like a pillar.

Thank You, for being here, at this occasion, Ma’am.

Friends, when Shri M.K Mukherjee handed the phone to Prof.Omprakash Mishra, and he said you must come , it was a honour for me because this is an occasion at which I am deeply touched that I am here to say a few words, for someone I have looked up to through all my life.Friends,there is no one perhaps in India, to my knowledge, who has been the Cabinet Minister of Commerce, Cabinet Minister of Finance, Cabinet Minister of Defence and Cabinet Minister of External Affairs, rolled into one and also Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission.

Friends, I recall it was during his tenure in Commerce that the GATT began to happen at Marrakech and his contribution to that discourse remains significant. Aside from finance, you may not know that during his tenure as Defence Minister he was the first to start private-public partnership. I do not know, how many of you here know, that he started the RURs private sector companies which will be built into Udyog Ratnas of the Defence Department jointly with the public sector partnership, a unique contribution that will go down in history as a new theme in the process of growth and change.

Shri. Amit Mitra, Secretary-General of Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry addresses the gathering

Friends, I may also indicate to you that I know that during External Affairs tenure which has begun there is a very important process at work of commerce activity which has become so vital to the Ministry of External Affairs keeping integrated. For example, he formed a position on economic affairs which relates to security in the energy sector. I do not know whether you know that we have seen a synthetic, organic process of integration across ministries in the area of energy security which he has already initiated as a ‘single window’ in terms of second track diplomacy all over the world. So when ONGC invest 2 billion dollar in Zaka Lake obviously there was a second track diplomacy behind the scene which remained unintegrated with the ministry of petroleum, ministry of natural resources, and the ministry of different sectors.
Friends, I recall that when Honourable Shri Pranab Mukherjee took over the 50th GOM, group of ministers, I was aghast that one of them related to broadcast and up linking and down linking. When I took 5 CEOs to meet him to discuss the concerns of up linking and down linking in broadcast television I assumed that he would not really know too much about this area. Within 5 minutes it became clear that he had already studied the literature and he was right on top of it debating with the top 5 CEOs of the world on the questions of up linking and down linking. Such was the effort I have seen of studying paper, cogniting them as the group of ministers over 50 areas, as was said by the opening statement.
Friends, I would only end by saying it is very difficult to combine the knowledges of the economy and understanding of the polity and a thorough hold over diplomacy. I must confess that over the years I have seen a mind that listens, that cognates, that interconnects and at the end of the day comes out with the fundamental process of change that I have really seen in my life. So, honestly, I am deeply honoured to be here to say a few words about someone I have venerated in the last 35 years that I have known him.
So, Friends, this award to him is only one part of the national recognition of someone who has led us from the front. It is a great honour that was given to me by Global India Foundation and I cherish to venerate to say a few words of real personal experience over the years about someone I feel is a leader who leads from the front.

Thank You, for this opportunity, Prof Mishra.

 

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