'Life is not khatakhat, life is hard work': Jaishankar's apparent dig at Rahul Gandhi over manufacturing sector neglect

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that for any country to become a major power, it has to be strong at manufacturing which can be achieved by having the right infrastructure and good policies in place by consistently working hard as life is not merely ‘khatakhat’.

Addressing the Indian diaspora in Geneva, Jaishankar slammed the governments in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s for neglecting manufacturing.

“There are people who would say, why are we importing so much from China… Throughout 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s, governments neglected manufacturing… Now people wanted to find a fix… People said we are incapable and should not attempt… How can you be a major power in the world without strong manufacturing… It requires hard work, good policies… ‘Life is not khatakhat, life is hard work’… that’s my message to you, we have to work hard…,” said Jaishankar in an apparent dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who had used the phrase ‘khatakhat’, which means instant and fast, at rallies ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul’s ‘Khatakhat khatakhat paise ayenge account mein’ refrain while explaining the party’s ‘mahalakshmi’ guarantee, under which the party promised to give Rs 8,500 per month to one woman in every poor household if it comes to power, had trended on social media ahead of the elections.

Jaishankar said that as the government was re-elected for a third time, it ensured that progress began on the first day of the term.

“After six decades a government was elected for a third successive term. That in itself is a statement worth reflecting upon. What it has done is on one hand, made us ready to go from day one. I’ll share with you some thoughts there. Initiative, programmes, progress starts the moment the office began. It is also an important moment to look back. If you’re beginning a third term, there are lessons, achievements and shortcomings from the first two terms. It is something one needs to objectively look at and learn from it and see how that can serve the path ahead,” he said.

Jaishankar also talked about the manner in which elections were held. He said that the elections were democratic.

“When we look at the conduct of elections, the enormous scale, the very heated arguments, but finally, the very ready acceptance of the results- the ready acceptance of results is not a global norm - there are different points of view, but in the end, we have as Indians, every right to be proud of our democratic exercise, the integrity, the scale of it and the efficiency of it in many ways,” he added.

Talking about the IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack Netflix web series, Jaishankar recalled how he was involved in the negotiations during a plane hijacking in 1984, and how he discovered his father, a prominent Indian civil servant, was aboard the plane taken to Dubai.

“I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t want to comment. In 1984, there was a hijacking. I was a very young officer. I was part of the team which was dealing with it. After 3-4 hours of the hijacking, I rang up my mother to tell her that I can’t come, there’s a hijacking. And then I discovered my father was on the flight,” said the external affairs minister.

“Fortunately, nobody got killed. It was interesting because, on the one hand, I was part of the team which was working on the hijacking. On the other hand, I was part of the family members who were pressing the government on the hijacking…,” added Jaishankar.

On August 24, 1984, an Indian Airlines flight from Delhi to Srinagar was hijacked over Pathankot and taken to Dubai. After 36 hours, 12 pro-Khalistani hijackers surrendered, releasing all 68 passengers and six crew members unharmed.

With inputs from agencies