Davos, Switzerland – World Economic Forum (WEF)
Anand Sharma
India on Saturday (28 January 2012) asserted that it has the mechanism to deal with issues of corruption and its economy is robust enough to brave the impact of the global financial crisis on the domestic economy.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said, “It is always fashionable to go with the wrong perceptions but India is a rule-governed Republic…We did handle the Satyam scandal effectively. You are talking about 2G but I can name many other Gs. This perception about India has to change.We have all the mechanism in place to tackle any kind of problems”.
Responding to the issues of corruption and scams raised at the WEF, an aggressive Sharma questioned, “Has the US not seen the Enron and the UK its ”News of the World” (scandal)? Let me question whether other countries have got the system to tackle frauds.”
The issue of corruption was raised by BBC commentator Nik Gowing who said, “things like 2G corruption, Anna Hazare and (roll back of) FDI in retail have added to this (negative) perception.”
On FDI in retail, Sharma said, “We are not going to roll back the decision…it will happen and the pause cannot be too long.”
Dismissing the criticism of India”s growth story, the Minister said the country’s economy is robust and can withstand any global shock.
