London, May 16 (Inditop) The clear mandate handed to the Congress is good for business, good for trade and good for India, say business leaders involved in promoting business and trade ties between India and Britain.
“The decisive view is that most people do not like the idea of a Third or Fourth Front and associate them with unstable governments,” the Director General of the Commonwealth Development Council (CDC), Mohan Kaul said Saturday.
“Manmohan Singh can now get back to his original agenda of reform.
“India has a great future, and I hope this government will take advantage of its mandate and take the lead on international trade talks.
“With the Congress back in power, we can finally have a deal on the Doha Development Round (of global trade talks). Certainly the US and UK feel that way,” Kaul told Inditop.
Kaul, whose organisation promotes business relations among the Commonwealth countries, said India also had a major role to play in the current financial crisis.
“India has been the biggest gainer in terms of the percentage increase of voting rights in the International Monetary Fund.
“British business is looking to India as a partner and there is a genuine expectation here of success on all fronts,” Kaul said.
The view was backed by Vikas Pota, Managing Director of Saffron Chase, a leading communications consultancy firm that advises British companies investing in India.
“In terms of business, this is undoubtedly a positive result. There are no longer Communists holding people at gunpoint, which was the experience of the previous coalition government.
“The only unknown is what role, if any, Mamata Banerjee will play in the central government, having opposed the Nano car project so vehemently in West Bengal,” Pota said.
Barry Gardiner, a minister in the Tony Blair government, said the UPA government’s domestic economic performance may have been a factor in the Congress’s show.
“The economic situation globally hasn’t been very good, but that’s not the case in India. People are reflecting that in voting patterns,” Gardiner said.
“To have stability now, and not to have to worry about elections every two years is hugely beneficial,” he added.
