SINGAPORE: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has said that his new initiative of appointing a Minister for Singapore Affairs "does not mean we straightaway deal with the external affairs of either our country or this country."

Dr. Reddy announced the appointment after meeting senior Singapore leaders here on Friday.

"Whatever we do, we will work within the overall foreign policy of the country," Dr. Reddy told The Hindu on Saturday. . It was the "prerogative" of the Government of India to set foreign policy, and Andhra Pradesh "will not interfere" in that domain.

Spelling out the rationale of his move, Dr. Reddy said: "The focussed approach of Singapore leaders towards India really caught my attention. They said [that] if they [were to] spread their presence in India, they themselves might get lost. On the other hand, if they identify certain States and certain projects, the pro-activeness of the local government [in India] being a criterion for identifying that sort of a scenario, it will help mutually. I felt this sort of approach is good. [So] when they themselves are feeling that Andhra Pradesh is a place with which they can do business, I thought that we should definitely reciprocate. Only to attract investments, facilitate investments and help industrialists to come [to Andhra Pradesh] from this country."

Similar investments

Asked whether he would make similar moves to woo investments from other key countries too, he said "if it can work well with one country, why should it not work well with other countries?"

Noting that there was no discussion about Andhra Pradesh setting up any representative office in Singapore, he said "even if we open a liaison office here, that will only help the investment part."

Responding to the point that the idea might not fly because India won't allow its constituent States to set up such offices abroad, Dr. Reddy emphasised that he was not suggesting any kind of parallel foreign policy at the level of Andhra Pradesh.

The current investments in Andhra Pradesh from Singapore accounted for about Rs. 500 crores.

The highlight of his visit to the United States, prior to his arrival in Singapore, was the keynote address he delivered at the World Agriculture Forum, he said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail