New Delhi: Prime minister Manmohan Singh today mooted further opening up the manufacturing sector to foreign investments and asked NRIs to increase investments to hasten the economic development of the country.

He said that manufacturing should be liberalised even domestically to create a more enabling environment as the Indian economy was open for participation with enormous investment opportunities he said.

Commenting on the rural-urban divide, he said a two-pronged strategy to arrest the divide was required - more investment in agriculture to increase productivity and ensuring labour intensive industrialisation to create more employment outside agriculture. "Labour intensive industrialisation must take place," Singh asserted

"Per capita gap between rural and urban areas has widened. For the success of democracy, we need to arrest this," he said.

"We want to build a better future for ourselves not because of a desire to be a gloal superpower but because we want to live in peace and with dignity", said Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, in his keynote speech at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2006. Taking forward the theme from last year's Leadership Summit, 'Building a better future', the Prime Minister elaborated on the need for greater investment in education and health infrastructure. Benefits of science and technology must reach all corners of the world and remove the scourges of disease and poverty.

India needs to work towards creating a skilled, confident and enterprising workforce, a polity that is equitable and inclusive. The investments needed for this are huge but this is what has to be done to achieve India's targets of 10 per cent growth rate in the next Five Year Plan. Not stopping at growth alone, but taking it forward to ensure 'meaningful outcomes in the lives of individuals' is what 'catching up' should mean, said the Prime Minister.

Unhappy about the reforms in the judiciary, legislature and local administration, the Prime Minister reiterated the need to 'revitalise and make more accountable and effective' these institutions of governance.

Commenting on the outcome of the nuclear deal, he said he was hopeful that it should be in line with the July 18, 2006, agreement between the two countries. Dr. Singh said there is still have a long way to go before India-US nuclear cooperation between India and US becomes a reality.

(See text of full speech: India - The Next Global Superpower?)