India s tolerance, openness its biggest economic strength: Rajan

New Delhi Sep 7 (IANS) India s diverse multicultural society and tradition of tolerance is its greatest strength and will be the basis of the country s economic strength in future former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday.

"Our greatest strength comes from being a tolerant open society " Rajan said at the release here of his book "I do what I do" which is based on the speeches he delivered as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor during 2013-16.

"This tolerance and openness will be our greatest economic strength in future especially given the kind of service and innovative economy we want to be " he said.

"We should be extremely careful not to lose this...definitely there are threats to tolerance...Eternal vigilance is the price to pay for liberty " he added.

Rajan s comments come in the backdrop of the nationwide outrage and protests over the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru earlier this week.

Elaborating on the issue Rajan the only RBI Governor since Independence who did not have his term renewed by the government said: "Every authoritarian regime comes to a turning point when it has to answer the question of how to increase growth."

In 2015 a lecture Rajan had delivered as RBI Governor created controversy because of his reference to the growing intolerance in the country.

--IANS
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