Hydrogen fuel, five years away: Ex-Indian minister

KUWAIT: The optimistic forecasts on developing hydrogen fuel has sparked doubts about prosperity in oil-dependent countries in the long term. According to a former Indian minister, prosperity in the Gulf will no longer be tied to oil in the long term…the hydrogen fuel, is five years away from being materialized. Dr Subramaniam Swamy, a visiting Harvard University professor made his remarks during a forum held at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) recently. Speaking before a group of mostly officers and members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India-Kuwait Chapter (ICAI), Swamy pointed out that hydrogen fuel designed for transportation services have been discovered and can be used in five years’ time.

The time will come when no automobile will be run on petrol; cars will be run using hydrogen system. If it happens, it will be a great blow to most of West Asian countries and most of the oil producing countries like Venezuela,” he said. With this issue, Dr Swamy said that India could offer intellectual services to west Asian neighbors, like sharing expertise in hardware and software technology.

A former Indian MP and a Union Cabinet Minister, Dr Swamy recognized the fact that at this point in time, West Asia is as important in terms of energy and that relationship should be maintained and strengthened. “There are tough issues and decisions to be made, like for example, how to deal with the issue of (nuclear) Iran. He said, “The people of Iran are great; they are very open to friendship with others. Their people have enormous regard to Indians. Iran signed a Non-Proliferation Treaty but doesn’t wa
nt to abide by it. India did not sign the treaty, we suffered for it, but we stood on our own feet,” he said.

Dr Swamy reminisced India’s great influence in Asia and also discussed ways and means to win back the position especially as it is strongly emerging as an economic power. Though their influence has minimized, Dr Swamy said that India’s influence in South East Asia is evident. He provided an example of Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population, where India’s influence can be witnessed in its currency. “A Ganesha picture is embossed in the Indonesian Rupiah. I remember in 1997, when Indonesia experienced continuous decline of rupiah (value), somebody told the Finance minister there that if they place Ganesha’s picture on the currency note, the slide( in currency value) would stop. They did as proposed and the slide stopped,” he said. In Thailand, according to Dr Swamy, one of the names of the king is Rama.

Their writings follow the Sanskrit technique, famously used in India. Swamy also mentioned the famous speech by a Peking University professor at Harvard University on its 300 years of founding anniversary. “They invited speakers (it was in 1936) from all over the world. One of the speakers was a professor at Peking University where he spoke about a topic dear to China. The title of his speech was ‘Indianization of China.’ The speech described the influence of religion and how the Chinese had accepted many concepts from India,” he said quoting the professor speech.