In his first ever interview to a private Indian news channel after assuming power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Frankly Speaking with Arnab has covered lot of ground. For long Modi was criticized for failing to have an eloquent media spokesperson to communicate. But this wide-ranging interview aptly filled in that lacuna. Endowed with a clarity of thought, driven by a strong conviction and adept in articulation Modi succinctly addressed all the issues raised during the course of this candid interview.

Foreign Policy has been Modi’s forte and conversation began with a critical reference to India’s failure to obtain the much hyped NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) membership. Despite certain sections of media gleefully undermining the proactive diplomacy and personal lobbying of Prime Minister, it is amply clear that Indian pursuits were blocked by one country- China. As a Prime Minister Modi met President Xi on 13 different occasions and prevailed that continuous dialogue with China is important despite disagreement over wide range of issues to find “common meeting points”. He reckoned that he never lost an opportunity to unequivocally communicate India’s interests and reiterated that contemporary world is no longer bipolar. Despite the repeated hurdles posed by China in India’s way it is essential for India to engage with the dragon. Modi argued that in foreign policy countries necessarily don’t harbor similar views to enter a conversation but continue to engage to resolve an issue through dialogue. In this era of globalization, governments must engage with big and small countries alike, clearly indicating that no country is insignificant. Accordingly, India renewed its engagement with several island countries as a result nearly 50 such countries are now part of the 122-member strong International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiated by India. Modi was optimistic of India’s NSG membership and stressed that it is an ongoing effort. He endorsed that every government till now has worked towards India’s permanent membership at UNSC, Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and Shanghai Cooperation (SCO) membership. He was glad that SCO and MTCR membership fructified under his regime.

With reference to the tangle between US and Pakistan and India’s growing closeness to US, Modi urged Indian Media “to stop seeing India through Pakistan’s prism”. He asserted that in this interconnected and interdependent World, it is essential for governments to engage with friends and foes alike. He insisted that he always aspired to have friendly relations with Pakistan and hoped that both countries could work together towards upliftment of masses from poverty in both countries. India wants to live in harmony. This can be reflected in the series of the friendly gestures made by Modi ranging from invitation to SAARC nations for his swearing-in ceremony, meeting along the sidelines of Ufa, a pep talk along the margins of Paris Climate Summit and finally impromptu visit to Lahore to wish Nawaz Sharif on his birthday. But despite these efforts Pakistan has reciprocated India with a clandestine Pathankot attack. These continuous efforts from Indian side clearly reflects India’s propensity for a harmonious coexistence with its neighbor. Incidentally World is now unanimously supporting India and have come to understand existential threat from Pakistan. Countries have begun to empathize India for enduring the brutal terror attacks perpetuated by Pakistan.  With reference to how do we decide the Lakshman Rekha for Pakistan? Modi expressed his dilemma as to whom should we engage? The elected government or other non-state actors? Hence India needs to be on a perpetual alert every day and can hardly afford any laxity. He mentioned about the two pronged style- where people who has to work at table are working and those working at borders are responsibly fulfilling their duties. He commended the relentless terrorist flushing out operations of jawans.

Finally, he observed that it is important for him to engage with World leaders and talk to them frankly as he was largely an unknown identity (with no political clout). He stressed that his “personality shouldn’t be hindrance for the World to have faith in India”. Taking an indirect dig at media which has clearly contorted his personal image, he emphasized that he must meet World leaders in person so that his counterparts would know about India’s real head and his aspirations. Foreign Affairs in India have had a massive changeover. Earlier different ministries used to work as separate entities but under Modi all of them began to work as a team and hence the impact is more visible.

Responding to some tough questions on economy, Modi made it amply clear that government was happy with Raghuram Rajan’s contributions indicating that the queer pitch of Rexit was a media creation. He expressed high regards for his credentials and believed that he would be ever enthusiastic to serve India. With reference to Jandhan Yojana, Prime Minister Phasal Bheema Yojana he said that BJP believes in the concept of the Antyodaya ( reaching out to the last man) envisaged by Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. He reinforced that his government aims to bring about change in the quality of life and believes in empowering the poor to fight poverty. Underlining the importance of Swacch Bharat, he said that filth and unhygienic living has been bane on India’s poor. With the Clean India Drive, NDA regime aims to extricate the poor from the vicious cycle of diseases and ill health. To mitigate the burden of growing unemployment among Indian youth, government has initiated Start Up India, Stand Up India and introduced through Mudra Banks scheme which can disburse loans to women, dalits and youth. So far 3 crore people availed loans from these banks to start their own businesses. To generate more employment, Modi indicated that government is now heavily investing in infrastructure projects.

With reference to possible communalization of political agenda for the forthcoming UP assembly elections, Modi requested media to stop making political hotheads into heroes. Similarly in a veiled dig at Subramanian Swamy he indicated people in public life must behave responsibly, refrain from seeking unnecessary publicity and shouldn’t challenge the system. With no holds barred Modi openly came out that he had no doubts that sins were committed by previous government and indicated that all scams will be critically and methodically analyzed. In reply to government’s efforts on curbing the routing of black money, Modi highlighted that his government has made taxation more transparent, blocked the Mauritius route through which black money is transferred. With concerted efforts Modi explained that he convinced member countries to include cooperation on information sharing on black money in the G-20 summit charter. During his recent visit to Switzerland, Modi sought Automatic Information Transfer on black money from Switzerland. He minced no words in saying that Congress has hijacked the Parliament and has been largely responsible for stalling of GST bill and prolonged log-jam. In a scathing reference to Augusta Westland and other defence Scams, he believed that highly experienced hands have doctored several deals and that his government would leave no stone unturned to unearth the hidden hands indulged in massive corruption. He indicated that such efforts shouldn’t be viewed as witch hunt. He also warned the tax evaders to enter the taxation stream with immediate effect to avoid any trouble. With regards to price rise Modi explained that two years of severe drought have crippled the agriculture production leading to skyrocketing of prices of pulses and other vegetables. He assured that government is importing huge amounts of pulses to mitigate the short supply.

To sum up, Modi had congruently addressed several queries on crucial aspects of governance with a professional elan. Till now political commentators criticized Modi for evading media and failing to communicate with people. This interview was indeed an opportunity, wherein Modi was critically interrogated by an aggressive and unappeasable anchor Arnab Goswami. Breaking his silence, Modi interpreted his vision for India. The clarity of thought, visionary outlook and firm commitment exuded by Prime Minister was indeed inspirational.  Unfortunately, seized by an overwhelming condemnation towards Modi, all his actions are scrutinized and unduly viewed through a prism of skepticism. As a result, people who appreciate the new sense of enthusiasm and pragmatism infused by Modi are labelled as bhakts and their views are wrecked. In any case, there is no dearth of an alternative interpretation. But truly, Modi has changed the dynamics of India through his proactive, boots on ground approach. World’s perception of India has changed. He contained the fiscal deficit, ensured a growth rate of 7.5% at a time when global markets are reeling under recession and steered the economic development by providing a scam-free government. Hope his desperate attempts to bring a change in every aspect of governance might yield tangible results soon.