India's Ruling Party Gloats Over Economic Pluses

NEW DEHLI: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on July 14 patted itself on the back for managing the Indian economy well despite the global economic downturn and the more recent Kashmir crisis. India also did well despite the economic sanctions by the U.S. and others following the nuclear tests in May 1998, said Venkaiah Naidu, general secretary of BJP. Naidu told reporters that India's reserves were bulging at US$30.4 billion, and inflation was at a 20-year low of some 2%. The stock market, too, has been bullish as reflected by the Bombay Stock Exchange's key 30-share Sensex scaling all-time highs, he said. "All this has been accomplished during a period of 16 months when there were unprecedented collapses of economies in Southeast Asia, economic sanctions against India and Pakistan's aggression in Kashmir," Naidu said.