'Life is not khat-a-khat, it is hard work; if you run down your country, others will do too: EAM Jaishankar takes jibes at Rahul Gandhi

Geneva/New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday took oblique pot shots at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying that if one starts running down one’s country in public then the rest of the world will join you in running down your country as well, and that “life is not khat-a-khat, it is hard work, and diligence, which anybody who has held a job and made good of it will know”.

In his remarks while interacting with the Indian community in Geneva, the EAM also took pot shots at the major powers and the international human rights ranking institutions that place India poorly.

While talking about Human Rights, the EAM said when it comes to human rights India is a very unique society, “because if you see the history of the world, with the exception of India, every other society had put an enormous emphasis on uniformity."

“When people talk of country, they talk of one language, one faith, one ethnicity, homogeneity, even countries that have a range of languages imposed that larger uniformity construct. We are the only people who have not done it -- that is the first and foremost human rights. We have allowed people to continue in that diversity.”

He said that when others talk of human rights then India should “politely convince people that we are in a better human rights position than you, as you have underplayed the diversities. And because I have the diversities, I have the debates in my society, I have the divergences…”

In a veiled criticism of the West, he said: “A lot of conversations on human rights are built post-predatory conversations -- after you have dealt with the whole world for centuries you can come and give lectures in Geneva to other people on human rights.”

The EAM continued: “I think it is important to get our narrative out, our message out; if we are underconfident or start running down our country in public we are not going to have those conversations.

“Because if you start running down our country in public, 192 other countries will join you in running down your country as well….” – in criticism of Rahul Gandhi who has been openly critical of the Modi government in his lecture tours abroad, including his most recent one in the US.

The EAM said: “We are a democracy and 1.4 billion plus people, there will be mistakes, flaws, that people can object to. That is part of growth and learning, but it should not be a tactic, a gamesmanship to put India in the backfoot, that is sometime what we see.”

On the rating agencies with regard to human rights, he said: “When it comes to human rights, and there are ratings, those are not honest, they are mind games being played out for political purposes.”

The EAM, who elaborated a lot on India’s progress on all fronts, also said:

“Some of you must be thinking why is the Foreign Minister talking about all this; none of this sounds like foreign policy, because at the end of the day what does the world look at – at your capabilities. If capabilities are not strong, then the best English does not compensate for it,” he said, in another oblique attack on Rahul Gandhi, whose flawless English at international talk sessions impresses his audiences.

The EAM said that other countries look at the confidence of the country, which comes from its capabilities. “For me every brick and every mortar, every equipped person, every person with a better home, better roof, better condition of life and therefore better ability to contribute, is part of the cards in my hand when I go abroad and deal with other countries. So all that happens at home is the basis on which foreign policy is conducted, it requires hard work.”

He said there is a big debate on manufacturing and questions asked why India is importing so much from China. He said that manufacturing has been neglected in the country in the 1960s, 70s, 80s .

“When we did give a major push for manufacturing, then we have people who come and say we need to find a fix as though you can do it instantaneously, and there are also people who say that we are incapable of it, and should not attempt it.

“So can one be a major power without manufacturing, for which one needs technology, and no one can develop technology without manufacturing.

“Unless you develop human resources, infrastructure, so life is not khat-a -khat. It is hard work, it is diligence, anybody who has held a job and made good of it knows that”, in reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who had turned down the offer to hold a ministerial berth during the UPA government.