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In focus
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh always acted on the principle of ‘nation first’, he did not visit Pakistan during his prime ministerial tenure as he felt it was not right, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot said Thursday.
Pilot said the list of those who went to Pakistan is long and includes the likes of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former deputy PM L K Advani and current PM Narendra Modi, but does not include Singh and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The MP made the remarks at an event in remembrance of Dr Singh at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, attended by former Union minister Salman Khurshid, former deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Congress MP Rajiv Shukla, ex-MP Shahid Siddiqui, former communication adviser to Dr Singh, Pankaj Pachauri, and Dr Singh’s daughter and historian Upinder Singh.
“Rajiv (Shukla) ji said he (Singh) could not go to Pakistan, visit his village, who was stopping him? Many invitations would have come, but he did not go because he felt it was not right to go,” said Pilot, who served as a minister in the UPA-II government. “His focus was not limited to the… economy, but equitable growth, focusing on the bottom of the pyramid… ,” he said.
“Dr Singh’s vision was clear — if we take steps to improve the lives of all the people of India, then the lives of everyone will improve,” Pachauri said.
Ahluwalia, who worked with Dr. Singh in various capacities, said, “Dr Singh is often described as the great liberaliser… But I don’t think he was a market fundamentalist… He was absolutely clear that we will not be able to develop if we don’t have a prosperous farming sector.” With PTI inputs
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