India and China, have the ability to define the way the world's energy moves : Rahul Gandhi

India and China, have the ability to define the way the world's energy moves : Rahul Gandhi

This morning I spoke about two poor families. One of them was called "Mrs. Kala," and Mrs. Kala said that she had diversified her income sources, and she has used that to stabilize her family and bring up her nine children. At the very least, Nuclear energy is going to act like Kalavati'ssorry, "Kala's" pond, and it is going to act as an insurance policy for this country in times of need. At its maximum, Nuclear energy is going to act like Kala's main crop. The problem is, that the way our nuclear industry is positioned today, it is going to do neither. It is neither going to act as an insurance policy, and nor is it going to act, or have the potential to act as a fundamental source of energy. And the reason it is not going to do so, is because the hands of our scientists, the hands of our establishment, are tied; and they are tied because they do not have fuel on one hand, and on the other hand, they do not have investment and technology. I am very proud to say that our Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh Ji has recognized both the problem and a potential solution. But it would be unfair of me not to accept that Shri Vajpayee also saw the problem, and also, in his time, worked on the solution.

I have stated, and all of us know, with regards to our energy security in this country, and that we need to think about it in the long term; and it is a problem that all of us need to solve working together. As I said, senior leaders have also established that he way forward is diversification and reliance on more than one source of energy- a balanced portfolio that includes nuclear, hydrocarbon, solar, and wind, among others. But it is not enough to identify a problem and a potential solution. The magic of what Shri Manmohan Singh Ji is doing, is that out of within the problem, he has identified an opportunity that is significantly larger than the problem itself. The opportunity our Prime Minister has identified is based on a simple fact. It is based on the fact that over the next 30-40 years, two countries are going to use the largest bulk of new energy that comes on line. These countries, China and India, have the ability to define the way the world's energy moves.

What I am suggesting, is that instead of looking at our energy problem as a problem, we start to look at our energy usage as an opportunity. Like a big buyer who goes to any market, we have the ability to shape the global energy industry. And Energy is like no other industry in the world. Energy is used everywhere, in everything, and in every aspect of economic and social life. Energy has destroyed nations, and it has built nations. Our old opponents, the British, grew to their prominence because they controlled coal. The United States today controls hydrocarbons, has a large emphasis on hydrocarbons; and we all know how powerful they are. What I am suggesting is that we start to think like a big country, like a powerful country, and instead of worrying about how the world will impact us, we start worrying about how we will impact the world.

Many years ago, this country embarked on a path which many people did not believe in. we developed an industry, called the IT industry and the telecoms industry. Very few people believed at the time that India would ever play a major role in this industry; very few people believed that the computer would have anything to do with empowering the poor, and with changing the way this country worked. Yet today, all of us together see the impact of the computer, we see the revolutionary impact that IT and telecommunications has had on this country. And it is important that we do not forget this. It is important that we do not forget this because I believe we are at a crossroads very similar to the crossroads we were at when the decision on IT was to be made. The decision here is not about 3 percent energy or 7 percent energy. It is not about India's usage of nuclear energy. If we look at the big picture here, it is about whether India can become a global power in a type of energy which is going to be very important in the future.

We all know the problems posed by hydrocarbons, we know about pollution; and earlier, one of the members asked me to point out what the connection is between energy and poverty. And we know the link between us depending on hydrocarbons and prices in India today. When we think about energy, when we think about nuclear energy, we must think about the poorest in the country. Contrary to what most people believe, when we thought about the IT industry, we were thinking about the poor in this country. It is something that is hard to grasp, because it is counterintuitive. But one must not underestimate the connections between industry, between energy, and between the poor.

I have taken a lot of time, so I do not want to go on forever. But I just want to make one submission, one last submission- that I am very happy this house is now listening to me. The difference between a powerful country and a country that is not powerful and does not have a similar impact on the world stage, is that the powerful country thinks about how it will impact the world. The country that is not so powerful thinks about how the world would impact it. It does not matter which government runs this country. Many governments will run this country in the future. But it does matter how we think about our position in the world. What is important is that we stop worrying about how the world will impact us, we stop being scared about how the world will impact us, and we step out and worry about how we will impact the world.

I speak today not as a congress person or a congressman, but as an Indian. And I would like to say two other things before I conclude. The first- is that we are all building this country together. We might have different views about how this country should be built, we might have different opinions on what we should do, but essentially we sit in this room together and we have to solve our problems together. This is what differentiates us, and this is what gives us our true power- that any voice can be heard in this room, that any voice can disrupt any other voice in this room; it is uncomfortable for me, but I am very proud of it- that any voice can be heard in this country.

And I would like to conclude by saying two things- the first thing, is that we must never, ever, let fear be our guide. We must never take decisions based on the fear of the unknown, or what is what going to happen if we act. And we must only act with one rule- that is Courage. And the second thing that I would like to say, is that we are a country of a billion people. 70 percent of us are young. I am old for this country; I am much above the average age. And it is important to realize that this country is brimming with confidence, and brimming with self-belief. And another point we must not forget when we take decisions as leaders in this country, is that we have to believe in our people, we have to have confidence in what they are capable of doing. I think these are guides not only for Congress leaders, these are guides for every single Indian- that when you do act, whoever you are, whatever opinion you have, act with courage and act with confidence. And with that, together we can change this country and impact the world.

To conclude, I would like to support our Prime Minister, and like to say that he has shown tremendous courage and confidence in the Indian people. And I would also like to say, and I say this as a youngster from this party, and a youngster from that party and all those other parties, that it does not matter what happens here today, what matters is that we start working together and together try to solve the problems of this country. I would like to support the motion of the Prime Minister.

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