‘Modi Ki Guarantee Works Abroad Too’: At Rising Bharat Summit, Jaishankar Decodes Aam Aadmi’s Interest in Foreign Policy sattaex.com

“Modi ki guarantee works as much abroad as it works in the country,” External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday as he lauded the prime minister’s efforts to catapult India on the global stage.

Speaking at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit, Jaishankar said: “It is Modi ki guarantee which moved the entire Indian system in Operation Ganga where five ministers were deputed and were told to sort out the issues and come back when the last person comes back; it could be Operation Kaveri in Sudan or it could be what we did during Covid-19. If you look at the Gulf, where we have almost 90 lakh people, my deputy Muralidharan and I were going there regularly to carry the prime minister’s message that please take care of our people. And they did take care.”

He added: “Modi ki guarantee also applies in the sense that the prime minister says I will take the right decision to make sure your petrol costs are kept within reasonable limits by not bowing to political pressure. National interest and national welfare are key. We will do what it takes. We will send our troops to the borders at the height of Covid-19. We will react to terrorism to deter any repetition. Part of the reason why people respond to foreign policy is they can see that our international stock, visibility and credibility have gone up.”

Talking about the increasing interest of the aam aadmi in foreign policy, the minister said he wasn’t surprised by the change. “In the last five years, I have seen this sentiment grow and I attribute it to 2-3 factors. There is a greater sense of pride in the nation about itself now. Also, as people’s basic necessities are met, they are looking at more things. A lot of people today go out to work and travel so the connection between being treated well abroad and their existence is stronger. Third is G20. The initial concern was to get it out of Delhi but we ended up getting the entire country involved. Also, Covid made us aware of the global connect.”

Jaishankar also delved into the significance of G20. “G20 was held in 60 cities and towns and we ran it like an andolan, like jan bhagidari. This is the only G20 where you went to a place, had a meeting, while NGOs were doing their own work around it and a university was holding a lecture on it. It had a flair and impact which was very different. I don’t think people expected us to succeed. We took a much less defensive strategy; we said if it is a finance meeting, we will have a finance outcome, rest of the issues can be discussed later. Yes it’s a talk shop but even talk shops have significance. Don’t write off the power of ideas and talking. Covid-1 had set back the SDG targets but G20 got the focus back.”