Sinha on Tuesday joined issue with Smadja on the latter's perception of the country's fiscal position. Addressing the summit a day after the WEF chief's gloomy forecast of the economy, Sinha said there was no reason for being unduly perturbed by the country's fiscal position. Without naming Smadja specifically, Sinha said, "India is not in trouble. People should keep their counsel to themselves and not create panic".

"I would like to be judged by the results and not by any pre-conceived notions of a certain set of people," Sinha said, adding that the country's economic growth rate would compare quite favourably with many of its mighty partners.

The finance minister asserted that fiscal deficit would be maintained within "sustainable limits" through tight expenditure control. He was,however, silent on the massive shortfall in revenue collections that the government is facing.

Sinha said the country has proved its worth globally which is evident from the fact that the country has not defaulted on a single external commitment and has held its ground as far as exernal balances are concerned.

Pointing out that political instability has no linkage with the policy framwork, Sinha said changes in government would not affect the continuity in policy. "The BJP-led government has not changed a single economic policy of the previous regimes. The focus has been more on improving the policies".

Elaborating further, he said the only thing which can be expected out of democracy is stability of policy through consensus. A visibly irritated Sinha told the foreign delegates: "You want the silence of the graveyard, with everything laid out for the next 20 years. That's not going to happen, this is a democracy."

The finance minister said his government has taken certain radical decisions which wasconveniently postponed by the previous regimes. For example, PSU restructuring. The government has decided to close down 10 unviable public sector units and has also opted for strategic sales in some others. Sinha referred to the housing policy and also the decision to abolish the Urban Land Ceiling Act which would be tabled in the winter session itself. "These are momentous decisions lending credence to the government's pro-industry policies", Sinha said.

Taking a dig at the credit rating agencies, Sinha said every country shuld be allowed to choose its own pace of liberalisation. "Concern for foreign investors is our priority, but no government can ignore the legitimate aspirations of its 950 million people", he said. The totality of the concern for India is the huge Indian population and their quality of life rather than investment alone, he added

Lot of foreign agencies have been insisting for long that India should go for capital account convertibility. When India started thinking on those lines, thesame agencies advocated caution. This is an example how international perceptions also change, he said.