SINGAPORE: Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said when the current financial crisis is over, there will be a rethinking of the international financial system.

In the next 10 to 30 years, the Indian and Chinese currencies may also have to be figured into the equation.

Mr Lee was speaking on Friday at a dialogue session that was part of the Global Indian Diaspora Conference held in Singapore.

He said: "You will have to factor in over the next 10, 20 years, India will be playing a bigger role. The rupee will become an important world currency as the Indian community grows, so will the Chinese yuan or renminbi.

"All these will have to be factored into the global financial system. I see that this has to be an inevitable trend - as the economy of the world, the central gravity, shifts from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

"It may take 10, 20, 30 years. Definitely by 20 years, 30 years, China will equal the US in total GDP. India will be bigger than any European country." - CNA/vm