Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said he valued one-one-one interactions with world leaders to let them get to know him "as I am not from a political family". When asked about India's ties with Pakistan - which had appeared to be warming before New Delhi blamed militants from Pakistani soil for a deadly attack on an Indian air force base earlier this year - Modi urged continuing vigilance. He warned "there are different types of forces operating in Pakistan", and said India must be "alert every moment".
The prime minister added: "But our supreme objective is peace. Our supreme objective is to protect India's interests." Meanwhile, Modi slammed a party colleague for "inappropriate" personal attacks on popular central bank chief Raghuram Rajan which are thought to have contributed to his departure. Modi also said he appreciated Rajan's work, just over a week after the Reserve Bank of India governor announced he was standing down at the end of his first term in September. "I believe Raghuram Rajan's patriotism is no less than any of ours... As much as I know Raghuram Rajan, whatever post he holds, wherever he is, he is someone who will continue to serve the country," Modi told the Times Now news channel in a rare interview aired on Monday. "Those who speak such language (against him) are doing great injustice to him."
Subramanian Swamy, an MP from Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, had led a public campaign against Rajan, accusing him of keeping interest rates too high and saying his time abroad meant he was "mentally not fully Indian". The Harvard-educated Swamy has since gone on to criticise the candidates reportedly now shortlisted for the RBI job, including chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian. In his first comments on the controversy, Modi said he did not support such attacks on bureaucrats, branding them publicity stunts.
"Whether it is someone from my party or not, I believe that such things are inappropriate. The nation won't benefit from such publicity stunts," Modi said, without naming Swamy. "One should be more responsible while conducting themselves. Anyone who believes he is bigger than the system is wrong." Rajan, a former professor at the University of Chicago, said in his resignation letter to staff this month that he would be returning to academia but also seemed to hint that differences with Modi's government had factored into his decision.
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