'For me, the best diplomat of all time is...': S Jaishankar in Thailand
The External Affairs Minister is in the Indonesian capital to attend a meeting of the Asean-India Foreign Ministers. He began his week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand beginning Wednesday for meetings, including with counterparts of the ASEAN and BIMSTEC groupings.
- Jul 16, 2023,
- Updated Jul 16, 2023 2:48 PM IST
External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday revealed who he thinks is the best diplomat of all time. During an interaction with the Indian community in Thailand, Jaishankar said that according to him, the best diplomat of all time is Lord Hanuman. He explained how Lord Hanuman went to a country about which he didn't have much information, located Sita, set the place on fire, and kept her morale high.
"Mahabharata is like statecraft, but if you see Ramayana too if you ask me who I think is the best diplomat, my answer will be no question, Lord Hanuman," he said. "You are setting out on behalf of Lord Rama, but let us take that as a country, into the unknown dealing with another entity where you don't have that much information...You have to go there, find intelligence, locate Sita...he surreptitiously sets contact with Sita, keeps her morale high, sets the place on fire which is not my prescription for diplomats...but if you look at the totality, he comes back successfully," Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister is in the Indonesian capital to attend a meeting of the Asean-India Foreign Ministers. He began his week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand beginning Wednesday for meetings, including with counterparts of the ASEAN and BIMSTEC groupings.
In a tweet, Jaishankar said he arrived in Bangkok on Saturday evening and the first engagement was his interaction with the Indian community. During the interaction, he highlighted that how developments in India are of great interest to the world, and that the Indian community is an important shareholder in India and Thailand's relations.
Jaishankar also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him "enormously visionary and grounded". "The extraordinary thing about PM Modi is that he gets the pulse of so many things which he turns into policies and programmes," he said.
"I feel it's been an enormous good fortune of the country to have someone like him (PM Narendra Modi) at this time. I am not saying this because he is the PM and I am a member of his cabinet...He is enormously visionary and grounded and honestly such people come once in a lifetime," he said as per the news agency ANI.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar on Saturday revealed who he thinks is the best diplomat of all time. During an interaction with the Indian community in Thailand, Jaishankar said that according to him, the best diplomat of all time is Lord Hanuman. He explained how Lord Hanuman went to a country about which he didn't have much information, located Sita, set the place on fire, and kept her morale high.
"Mahabharata is like statecraft, but if you see Ramayana too if you ask me who I think is the best diplomat, my answer will be no question, Lord Hanuman," he said. "You are setting out on behalf of Lord Rama, but let us take that as a country, into the unknown dealing with another entity where you don't have that much information...You have to go there, find intelligence, locate Sita...he surreptitiously sets contact with Sita, keeps her morale high, sets the place on fire which is not my prescription for diplomats...but if you look at the totality, he comes back successfully," Jaishankar said.
The External Affairs Minister is in the Indonesian capital to attend a meeting of the Asean-India Foreign Ministers. He began his week-long visit to Indonesia and Thailand beginning Wednesday for meetings, including with counterparts of the ASEAN and BIMSTEC groupings.
In a tweet, Jaishankar said he arrived in Bangkok on Saturday evening and the first engagement was his interaction with the Indian community. During the interaction, he highlighted that how developments in India are of great interest to the world, and that the Indian community is an important shareholder in India and Thailand's relations.
Jaishankar also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called him "enormously visionary and grounded". "The extraordinary thing about PM Modi is that he gets the pulse of so many things which he turns into policies and programmes," he said.
"I feel it's been an enormous good fortune of the country to have someone like him (PM Narendra Modi) at this time. I am not saying this because he is the PM and I am a member of his cabinet...He is enormously visionary and grounded and honestly such people come once in a lifetime," he said as per the news agency ANI.