Jharkhand CM: Foreign policy under Modi govt at its best

As Narendra Modi government came under severe criticism from the Opposition as well as ally Shiv Sena over the Pathankot terror attack and its Pakistan policy, Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das on Wednesday strongly supported India’s foreign policy under the Modi government.

In an exclusive interview to this newspaper, the Jharkhand CM, cited a quote of BJP patriarch and former PM A.B. Vajpayee, “You can change friends, not neighbours” and insisted that India’s foreign policy currently is in the best form since Independence.” On senior leader and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha’s criticism of the foreign policy in the wake of the Pathankot attack, Mr Das said everyone has a right to express his views but the government’s foreign policy has to include lot of aspects. Without going into the DDCA controversy and allegations by party MP Kirti Azad, Mr Das said, “Discipline is very important in any organisation and needs to be maintained.”

As the Raghubar Das government completed its one year last week, the first non-tribal chief minister of the tribal-dominated state spoke about the various initiatives taken by the government, including the first of its kind sports university, land bank portal to assist investors, jansamvad, 181 helpline, seeking suggestions for the budget from as far as the block level as well as “yojana banao abhiyan” for panchayats involving locals.

Mr Das also said that his government is giving priority to IT so that the government becomes more accessible as well as transparent. With Jharkhand receiving laurel from World Bank for ease of doing business, Mr Das said that his government has taken many initiatives to check corruption and bring in transparency at all levels.