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Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, lashed out at the Centre and claimed that the Congress-led UPA-II was engulfed by policy paralysis. The UPA Government was living on borrowed time, he said.
“They (UPA government) are not watching the calendar, but the clock. It is on borrowed time,” he said while addressing a seminar here.
The seminar was organised jointly by MCC Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Bharat Chamber of Commerce and Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Accusing the Centre of policy paralysis, he claimed that the UPA-II had floundered on several issues such as bringing back the Italian marines, failure to take action against Pakistani troops attacking and beheading Indian soldiers and so on.
Foreign policy
According to Modi, India was losing relevance globally and with its neighbours because of its faulty foreign policies.
“It is astonishing that the Italian marines, accused of killing Indian fishermen, were allowed to go to their native country to vote, while even if the mother of an Indian accused dies, he is not allowed to go to her funeral,” he said.
The Chief Minister said the country’s interest should be considered first while framing foreign policy.
“Despite India having played a key role in the birth of Bangladesh, no one is giving importance to Delhi in that country during the present crisis there,” he claimed.
Skill Development
Modi, meanwhile, stressed on skill development as the “need of the hour”.
According to him, India is a young country with the demographic dividend being its biggest advantage.
“If we pay attention to skill development, then we can provide opportunities to our youth to become productive and creative... then we can do a lot of things,” he said.
He added that that the world needs teachers and nurses and India could tap this potential through appropriate training.
PM question
The Gujarat Chief Minister, however, side-stepped questions on his Prime Ministerial ambition by claiming himself to be an ‘apolitical’ person. Modi is widely perceived to be BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate in the next Lok Sabha elections.
“I am not a politician,” Modi said, when asked by a member of the audience about his opinion on politicians aspiring for the top political post.
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