New Delhi, 17th October 2013.

Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.

May I just share some of my feelings I have gathered during this visit to your wonderful country. First of all, may I just congratulate the leadership of India for providing such impressive economic results in the recent decade, which – especially looking at this development from the European Union – can be classified as magnificent. And in a world which is suffering – I am speaking about the European world, and especially the Eurozone and around the Eurozone, which is suffering from the crisis and is fighting to generate even just minor economic growth, to generate some more fresh air for our economy. It is really something promising to look at the Indian economy and the figures which are really convincing to all of us. This kind of progress you have made, your Excellency, in recent years is clear evidence to all of us, that your nation is becoming more and more a new global power. In the future we must look at India from that perspective, and from that point of view.

Thank you very much to all the dignitaries of India who were kind enough to welcome us and to share their thoughts with us. Thanks also to the Indian investors in Hungary, and especially to two major companies of the Indian economy, who have already signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Hungarian government and who serve as the flagships for Indian investors in Hungary. May I just underline the point which was made by the Prime Minister, that we Hungarians support India’s ambitions of obtaining permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council. This is not just the standpoint of the present Hungarian government, but this was the previous standpoint and it will remain our standpoint in the future, because this is not a party viewpoint, but is very much a national viewpoint of Hungary.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I would just add another point. I have tried to explain everywhere here in India, that of course we are experiencing some difficulties within the European Union economic zone, but at the same time I kindly ask all of you to identify a region which is called Central Europe and which has reformed itself. It consists of 4-5 countries with 80 million people – I am speaking about the Central European region, which has reformed itself deeply, which is over the crisis and which has the greatest potential for growth within the European Union. Take into consideration the opportunities within the European Union, and that the Central European region should deserve special attention. We have a cooperation of 4 major Central European countries, the so-called Visegrad Group: the Polish, the Czech, the Slovakian and the Hungarian governments. We have regular summits of our four prime ministers, and I have a mandate to invite the Prime Minister of India to visit one of our summits in the future, and I hope that we will be in a position to have our invitation accepted. I am the President of that group at the moment, and Budapest is currently the capital of our cooperation, but this changes every year. So, I hope in Central Europe we will have the chance to see each other soon.

One other point I would like to make, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the importance of creating the foundations for a long-term partnership, because we Hungarians think that money is important, business is important, politics is good, but human relations are even more important. Therefore, the Hungarian Government would like to express how positive we are with regard to forging a long-standing, long-term partnership. We would like to provide a solid foundation for that, and therefore we are offering 200 Hungarian state scholarships – annually – for Indian students to come to Hungary and build a common trust and a better future for our nations, for India and Hungary.

Thank you very much, Your Excellency, Prime Minister.

(Prime Minister’s Office)