This is being done in response to the renewed suggestion at the recent meeting of WFDB that India should take more active interest in this direction and should formally apply to WFDB for the purpose.

It may be worth recalling that a similar suggestion was made to the Indian industry even at the earlier meeting of WFDB in Thailand a year ago, but that suggestion had remained somehow pending so far. It, was, therefore renewed at the recent WFDB meeting in Moscow.

Though India is not currently a member of the WFDB, it is being specially invited to participate in the latter's conferences. It is now recognised by the world diamond business community that India has become too big an exporter of cut and polished diamonds with more than 50 per cent share in global diamond business, to remainoutside the world organisation.

When such a major diamond-player is not a member of WFDB the latter cannot convincingly claim to be representing the global diamond business.

India is thus poised to acquire full membership of WFDB after its first move in that direction was turned down 15 years ago. Since then much water has flown down the Ganges.

It might be interesting to note that doyen of the Indian diamond industry, SG Jhaveri, had nearly 15 years ago sought WFDG membership for the Diamond Dealers' Association Ltd of which he was president at that time.

He was also responsible for giving concrete shape by that time to the place to set up the present mini-bourse equipped with a small trading-hall in the neighbourhood of the diamond district spread over the Opera House area in Mumbai.

When, however, that application was taken up for consideration by WFDB at its Antwerp meeting in 1984, it was scuttled by some lobbyists from Israel partly on political and partly on business considerations.

Theythreatened to boycott WFDB, if India was given its membership. They apparently feared that if India was given WFDB membership,its diamond business might grow faster keeping Israel behind in race.

WFDB was so much swayed by them that it turned down the Indian application on flimsy grounds. Jhaveri who had specially flown into Antwerp to plead for the Indian case, was denied even an opportunity to be heard.

This annoyed him so much that after returning from Antwerp he formally withdrew the Indian application and resolved not to approach WFDB again for the purpose until invited by the latter to do so.

Though India thus remained outside WFDB since then, its diamond exports have continued to grow, thanks to entrepreneurship of Indian diamond units and their highly efficient marketing network.

Indian exports of cut and polished diamonds in 1994-95 when Indian application for WFDB membership was turned down, amounted to just about 5.06 million carats valued at US$1002 million. By 1998-99, they had scaled anall-time high of 26.35 million carats worth US$4928 million.

India has thus emerged as the largest manufacturer and exporter of polished diamonds in the world. Happily for the Indian industry, leaders of diamond business in other parts of the world have now come to appreciate this situation.