New Delhi [India], May 12 (ANI): On the occasion of the Modi @20:Dreams Meeting Delivery book launch event, the External Affairs Minister of India, S. Jaishankar on Wednesday expressed his gratitude for being a contributor to the volume which marks 20 years of the Modi government and highlighted PM Modi’s influence on the foreign policy.
“Privileged to contribute to ‘Modi @20: Dreams Meet Delivery.’ Write about the new concepts, aspirations, visions and strategies of PM @narendramodi in foreign policy” tweeted Jaishankar.
During his speech on the occasion, Jaishankar said that past eight years of PM Modi’s governance, he has witnessed the new concepts, aspirations, visions and strategies. The External Affairs Minister added that he had also contributed to the foreign policy impact along with PM Modi.
Further, reminiscing his first encounter with Modi, when the PM was the chief minister of Gujarat, Jaishankar added that 11 years ago, in November 2011, Jaishankar, who was the Ambassador of China at that time spoke, about how Modi was “different” from the others.
Jaishankar remembered that during his meeting with Modi at that time, the former chief minister of Gujarat had said, “I may be chief minister of Gujarat, but I’m a citizen of India. When I go outside, I will not be one millimeter different from what is our national sense.”
According to Jaishankar, PM Modi has transformed the foreign policy, which has turned to become “much more security-focused, he has practiced a diplomacy which is more development-focused, Modi has created people-centric policies and has run a foreign policy of a civilization state.”
In addition, Jaishakar also praised PM Modi, stating that the present 8 years of the Modi government have brought border infrastructure, diplomacy for development in a bid to achieve “400 billion dollars of exports”, and people-centricity where it has become much easier to receive passports. Mentioning the people-centric measures, Modi has taken, Jaishakar also highlighted the One Day Bharat Mission and the Operation Devi Shakti.
Notably, Jaishankar spoke about how PM Modi’s “quest for development is very much at the heart of what he does.” As per Jaishankar, Modi perceives “the world not just as a marketplace, but as a global workplace. And a lot of his foreign policy efforts are in that direction.”
“Here is a prime minister who has actually propagated and practiced a policy of India first,” said the External Affairs Minister. He summed up his speech by mentioning that his chapter in the book “lays out the paradox of Narendra Modi- a visionary, but a person of great detail.”
Earlier, Vice President of India M Venkaiah Naidu while releasing the book, Modi @20:Dreams Meeting Delivery had said that “the Prime Minister is a phenomenon at the national level. The book presents different facets of the distinct thought process, the pioneering, pro-active approach and the quintessential, transformational leadership style that Narendra Modi has come to be so closely identified with.” (ANI)