NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India is not reluctant to engage with Pakistan and the world is unanimously appreciating India’s position and stance on Pakistan due to his diplomatic efforts.
“Our approach has created difficulties for Pakistan, and they find it hard to respond on the matter in the world community,” he said in a lengthy interview to India’s Times Now TV channel. He said that there were different types of forces operating in Pakistan. “India only engages with a democratically-elected system,” he said.
He said that India seeks friendly relations but without compromising on Indian interests. “That is the reason my country’s soldiers have full freedom to answer back in whatever manner they have to and they will keep doing that,” he said. “India has to fight poverty. Why don’t we (Pakistan and India) come together to fight poverty,” he said, softening his tone.
When asked about India’s apparently ‘good relations’ with the US, the Indian prime minister said that his country’s relations with the US were based on India’s own interests and Pakistan context was different and not comparable. “I would especially like to appeal to my country’s media that we should stop looking at everything in India from the prism of Pakistan. It has been our biggest shortcoming and our mistake that we have been tagging ourselves with another country,” he said.
– India’s pending problems with China –
About China’s recent diplomatic efforts in opposing the country’s bid to enter the Nuclear Supplier’s Group (NSG), Prime Minister Modi said that India has multiple (pending) problems with China, but dialogue was the only way forward. “There are some basic differences. But the most important thing is that we can speak to China eye-to-eye and put forth India’s interests in the most unambiguous manner,” he said.
“I have a humourous side but these days humour can be a risky thing,” he said, adding anybody in this era of 24/7 news channels can lift a small word and make a big issue out of it. “But I will tell you the truth the reason for the absence of humour in public life is this fear. I am myself scared. Earlier when I used to make speeches, I would make it so humourous but there would never be any issues,” he said.
“I am not conscious. I am in fear, there is no humour left in public life because of this fear. Everyone is scared. I am in fear. My speeches used to be humourous. I see it in parliament, that humour is finished there too. It is a matter of concern. I will quote one proverb. Even if you mention a proverb, they will connect it with something else and begin a conversation. The one who is saying the proverb does not know for what he is speaking,” he said.
