The PM Narendra Modi government is not following the Western model of welfare, and is instead providing tangible goods like food rations, housing and healthcare for overall empowerment of the poor, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.
"The government has to provide basic welfare in terms of food rations, house, electricity and healthcare. We should not just follow Western-styled welfarism," Jaishankar told NDTV's Editor-In-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.
"Our approach is to continue and expand the Anna Yojana and Mudra scheme in the next five years," he said, referring to the government's flagship programme of providing 5-kg free ration to 80 crore households and the small business loan scheme.
People Taking Interest In Foreign Policy
The minister said he observed greater interest shown by the public in matters of foreign policy in this election. The government has been making a conscious effort to generate greater public visibility of its foreign policy achievements, like the publicity around the G20 Summit and Indian leadership in vaccine diplomacy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The people have taken great interest in foreign policy, especially the youth. Today, India is holding its ground on big issues," Jaishankar said.
He admitted the challenges in the neighbourhood in recent times, and said India can only improve its influence if it focuses on domestic economic development. "We have to improve on our ability to compete (for influence)."
The BJP leader cited the example of managing the recent hiccups in ties with Maldives, working with Bangladesh to crack down on militant activities on its soil, improvement in relations with Sri Lanka even after greater Chinese influence in the country, and importing hydropower from Nepal.
"Our efforts would be to engage with neighbours in terms of connectivity, road, water, electricity and make them feel as stakeholders to regional development. There has been progress on this in last 10 years," he said.
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