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Honourable Prime Minister Vajpayee, Ladies and gentlemen,

To travel is sometimes to make dreams come true. This visit is one such travel.

It is a privilege for my wife and me and for all those who have travelled with us to visit India, the cradle of one of our most ancient civilizations - to the land of world leader and inspirator Mahatma Gandhi - to a continent with so much talent and aspiration.

I thank you, Mr. Prime Minister, and your government and the people of India for the warm welcome and the generous hospitality extended to us.

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It is time for Norway to rediscover India.

So much is happening in your country.
So much remarkable progress.
So many daunting challenges.
So many great opportunities.
So many changes since Gro Harlem Brundtland visited India as Norway’s Prime Minister in 1987.

We pay this visit to a great country just as it is assuming a more appropriate role on the regional and global scenes.

We meet India continuing the crucial fight against poverty and environmental degradation.

We meet India continuing the struggles of bringing health, education and opportunity to all its peoples.

We meet India continuing to break technological barriers and to open up its society and its markets.

In all of these tasks, Norway meets you with respect, interest and a desire to intensify our cooperation and partnership.

Mr. Prime Minister,

Globalisation is the theme of our times. Its deeper meaning is often hard to grasp. But visiting India is clarifying. It is striking to see how so many of your challenges are also my challenges.

The people of India feel the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change. But neither the people of India, nor the people of Norway, can solve these daunting problems alone.

We must solve them together.

The people of India are selling goods and services on the world market. You need – and we need - fair regulations for world trade and financial flows. But neither the people of India, nor the people of Norway, can produce such regulations alone.

We must produce them together.

The people of India – having won the struggle against polio – must now mobilise all its forces against the deadly spread of AIDS and tuberculosis. But neither the people of India, nor the people of Norway, can win that struggle alone.

We must win it together.

And both our peoples are striving for a future in peace with our neighbours in a world that is a safe place for generations to come.

Neither the people of India, nor the people of Norway, can assure peace and stability alone.

But let us be clear: it cannot be achieved without both of us taking full responsibility.

We must promote continued disarmament. And we must help limit the proliferation of weapons of mass destructions. World security depends on it.

Mr. Prime Minister,

The most powerful message from India’s recent history is the success of its democracy. Your Nobel Prize winner, Amartya Sen, has demonstrated in his academic work what you have shown in practise:

No system of government has done a better job in easing human want, in averting human disasters than democracy.

The many lessons of globalisation add up to a clear call on world leaders:

It is a call to establish a democratic order not only within states, but also between states.

It is a call for democracy and fairness in the way burdens are shared.

It is a call for democracy and fairness in the way our children can access good health, good education, clean water, human rights and a safe job.

On these and a number of other issues countries as different as India and Norway must pull together.

One key arena for cooperation is the United Nations. We want a stronger UN and a reformed UN. And we want a stronger UN partnership with India.

For two years Norway holds a rotating seat in the United Nations Security Council. I have told you today, Mr Prime Minister, that Norway has decided to support India’s right to hold a permanent seat in the Security Council.

That would make the council stronger and more representative. It would add a legitimate voice from a developing world that for too long been denied fair access to responsible world office.

In our bilateral relations we welcome stronger cultural interaction. Indian cuisine is firmly anchoring its reputation in my country. The taste of what you serve us tonight explains why.

But we will go further to discover other depths of Indian culture, literature, music and films.

Finally, we want more business interactions, more technological exchange and more trade.

I have brought with me a delegation of Norwegian companies. They cover strong traditional sectors of Norway’s economic and technological foundation such as hydropower and fish. But it is also embracing representatives of the new technologies who have come with me to India to seek new inspiration and to learn from your achievements.

Mr. Prime Minister,

Norway established its development co-operation programme with India in 1952. That was our first development project ever.

Today we engage in partnership for development. To examples highlight the opportunities:

Tomorrow I will lend Norway’s support to your effort of immunizing Indian children. We know how vaccines can mean a ticket to a healthy life. All children deserve the right to this ticket.

A remarkable global initiative is now pooling resources to make this dream come true. India and Norway are partners in this initiative.

In another area we are breaking new ways in exploring alternative energy sources and environmentally friendly technologies.

We are building on an inspiring past as we are looking towards an exiting future.

Mr. Prime Minister,

I would like to express our deep gratitude for this wonderful day and evening. We are looking forward to the rest of our visit with great expectation.

I will take the liberty of making the great Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore’s words my own:

I came to your shore as a stranger, I lived in your house as a guest, I leave your door as a friend.

In this spirit I would ask you all to join me in rising a glass to the Prime Minister of India, to the people of India and to relations between our two countries.