With the world applauding Chinese economy, prime minister Manmohan Singh today contrasted it with India's growth which has been achieved in a democratic society and said he would stick to the Indian path.
"No doubt Chinese growth performance is superior to India's growth performance. But I always believe that there are other values which are important than the growth of GDP -- respect for fundamental human rights, respect for rule of law, respect for multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious rights," he said during an interaction at the elite US council for foreign relations here.
India's growth rate, which slowed down to 6.5% this fiscal due to global financial meltdown, is expected to get back to around 9% within two years.
The GDP of China, the world's third largest economy, witnessed a 9% growth in 2008. In the first nine months of the current fiscal, its GDP grew by 7.7%.
"There are several dimensions to human freedom which are not always caught by the numbers with regard to the GDP. So I do believe that even though Indian performance with regard to GDP might not be as good as the Chinese, certainly I would not like to choose the Chinese path. I would like to stick to Indian path," Singh, who is here on a four-day state visit, said explaining why Indian model of economic reform was preferable.
