New Delhi: Expressing confidence that India will be a leading nation of the world in the next 15 years, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today (Nov 16) said to ensure prosperity, India must tap the tourism potential of islands like Andamans and Lakshadweep.

"What we have not attained in the last 55 years will be achieved in the next 15 years. India is and will be a leading nation, there is no doubt about it," he said.

Addressing a gathering of students from Patna Women's College, he recalled his recent visit to Maldives saying it had the highest per capita income among SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co- operation) countries primarily due to promotion of tourism.

He said the country had leased out uninhabited islands to private parties by floating open bids which had, in turn, built tourist attractions. As a result, tourist arrivals in Maldives was double its population.

"Imagine how prosperous India will be if with a 100 crore population, it gets 200 crore tourists every year. It should utilise the uninhabited regions of Andamans and Lakshadweep," Advani said.

He said as early as 1990, when inspired by a biography on Bill Gates he visited Seattle, over 25 per cent of the Microsoft employees were of Indian origin.

Earlier, there was a lack of knowledge about India but Information Technology had shown the country's superiority to the entire world, he added.

PTI