NSG process began on positive note, will move as per rules: PM on India bid

New Delhi: Notwithstanding China objecting to India's entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday exuded confidence that the country will get membership of the bloc and the process for it has begun on a "positive note".

Modi said India has a number of problems with China and efforts are on to resolve them one-by-one through talks.

The editor of a news channel asked whether Modi was disappointed as China blocked India's NSG bid and how close India was to getting the membership, Modi said things will move forward as per rules.

India faced stiff opposition from China and a few other countries and the fact that it is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was used for foiling India's bid at the Seoul meeting despite the US' strong backing.

The Prime Minister said previous governments have made consistent efforts for getting membership of the UN Security Council, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and NSG.

"It is not only our government which has made the effort, this is in continuity and it is in our tenure that SCO and MTCR membership has been achieved. I am fully confident that we have begun efforts in the direction of NSG (membership), formally.”

Asked about China scuttling India's NSG bid and its efforts to get Masood Azhar banned by the UN despite Modi's frequent interactions with Chinese President Xi Jingping, the Prime Minister said efforts are on to resolve issues with China through talks.

"We have an ongoing dialogue with China and it should continue. In foreign policy, it is not necessary to have similar views to have a dialogue. Even when there are contradictions, talks are the only way forward and problems should be resolved through dialogue.”

"We don’t have just one problem with China, so many issues are pending. Slowly and steadily efforts are on to find solutions to them one-by-one," said Modi.

He said China has also been cooperative towards finding solutions. "But there are some issues on which we differ from them. But the most important thing is that we are now talking to China eye-to-eye and boldly raising issues of Indian interests. Three days back I met the Chinese President and strongly put forward issues relating to India's interests," he said.

On cross-border terrorism, Narendra Modi said having taken risky initiatives, India would have to be "alert and conscious" at all times but wondered with whom in Pakistan lines can be drawn for conducting talks -- with the elected government or "other actors".

He also said India would have to drive home the advantage of the fact that the world was now convinced of its views on terrorism from across the border. India will have to continue putting forth its views on this matter, Modi said.

"With whom in Pakistan do we draw the ‘lakshman rekha’ on talks -- with an elected government or with other actors? India will have to be alert and conscious at all times. There should not be any laxity and negligence," he told a news channel.

Modi was asked what was the 'lakshman rekha' for holding talks with Pakistan. In 2014, the government had said talks should be only between the two countries and not with the Hurriyat. Then came the request to them to act quickly on 26/11 and the Pathankot attacks.

The Prime Minister said he no longer had to convince the world about India's stand on terrorism. He has made consistent efforts with the neighbour given his visit to Lahore or inviting the Pakistan Prime Minister to India, Modi said. "We are not the obstacle to talks," Modi said.

"The world now is praising India's role. Pakistan is finding it difficult to answer. The world is watching. Earlier the world would not buy India's theory on terrorism and sometimes it would even treat terrorism as a law and order problem. Now the whole world is accepting what India says on terrorism. It is accepting the loss caused to India by terrorism, the loss caused to humanity by terrorism. I believe India will have to continue putting forth its view on this matter," the Prime Minister said.

Breaking his silence on party MP Subramanian Swamy's attacks on RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and some top finance ministry officials, Modi said the remarks were "inappropriate".

Calling Rajan "no less patriotic", he virtually ticked off Swamy saying "if anybody considers himself above the system, then it is wrong".

The Prime Minister's comments assume significance in the context of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the BJP distancing themselves from Swamy's recent attacks on Rajan, CEA Arvind Subramananian and Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.

Swamy also had made some carping comments about Jaitley without taking his name. "Whether it is in my party or not, I think such things are inappropriate. This fondness for publicity is never going to do any good to the nation. People should conduct themselves with utmost responsibility. If anybody considers himself above the system, it is wrong," the Prime Minister said in an interview to a news channel. Modi was asked whether recent comments made by "your Rajya Sabha MP" were appropriate.

The scribe said senior government officials continue to be criticised despite Modi's recent advice to his leaders that decorum be maintained. "Some are fond of publicity. My message is very clear. I have no confusion about it," Modi replied.

Modi then praised Rajan, who has said no to a second term in the RBI, saying he was patriotic and would continue to serve India irrespective of whether he was in some position or not.

"My experience with him has been good and I appreciate the work he has done. He is no less patriotic. He loves India. Wherever he will work, he will work for India," Modi said in an apparent riposte to Swamy's attack that Rajan was "not mentally fully Indian".

The Prime Minister rubbished apprehensions that Rajan would not be allowed to complete his term.

On the stalled GST bill, Modi said the Congress has made it a prestige issue but expressed confidence that the evolving arithmetic in Rajya Sabha would ensure that the legislation would be passed soon. "GST is beneficial for the poor people of the states represented by them, because those states will economically benefit the most from GST...This is why be it Mamata Banerjee, be it Nitish Kumar, be it Akhilesh Yadav or Naveen Patnaik, all these states want the GST bill to be passed at the earliest.”

"There is just one group which has made it the issue of prestige. Now the kind of arithmetic which is working out, I hope that this decision is passed in favour of the poor," he said.

Referring to the discussions he had with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Modi said he had made all efforts and held talks at every level. "...But despite this, I will keep trying. I am ready to convince them in which ever way possible. If I have to convince someone over a cup of tea at their house, I am even ready for that. I have no problem. My only aim is the welfare of the poor of my country and the poor of states like Uttar Pradesh," he said.

To a question on the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh and whether he would ensure that there would be no communal agenda, the Prime Minister said development would be the focus and that is the way the country would progress. "It's my conviction, it's my commitment. You must have seen during the 2014 elections that I fought elections on the issue of development. The new generation of the country only believes in development. I believe that solution to all problems is in development.”

On hotheads triggering communal tensions, he said the media should not make heroes out of those people who make such comments. "Don't make them heroes, they will stop. Why do you make them so big? I see such statements by people on TV, whose faces I haven't even seen and they end up becoming spokesmen on TV," he said.

Conceding "there have been a lot of problems" in Parliament because of disruptions, he blamed the Congress saying a party which has been in power for 60 years and which knows nitty gritties cannot behave in a way a new opposition party behaves.

"A party which hasn't been in power or hasn't seen anything, could behave in this way. For example, we are in power now, and consider in 2040 we become the Opposition party. So, in 2040 we can't have the same conduct as the one we had in 2009 or 2010," he said.