New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, currently in New York, recalled a midnight conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when an Indian consulate came under attack in Afghanisan’s Mazar-e-Sharif locality some years ago.
“Jaage ho (are you awake)?,” was his first question,” Jaishankar told the audience.
The Minister said this while speaking at an event to discuss the book ‘Modi@20: Dreams meet Delivery.’
While recalling the incident, the Foreign Minister effusively praised the Prime Minister for his leadership skills and crisis management.
#WATCH | NY, US: Recounting India’s evacuation effort from Afghanistan, EAM Jaishankar says, “It was past midnight… PM called me, his first question was – “Jaage ho?”… I apprised him that help is on its way. He told me to call him when it’s done… that’s a singular quality.” pic.twitter.com/AxL7Ddp6d6
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2022
Further, narrating the incident from 2016 attack in the war-torn country, Jaishankar said, ‘It was midnight when the PM called me and asked, are you watching TV? Then I said yes, I am watching TV. Then he asked what is going on there, and I replied that it will take two-three hours as the help is on the way, and to this PM Modi asked me to call him when the mission is over.”
#WATCH | …(PM) Modi himself is a product of change. The fact that someone like him eventually has become the PM of India, itself shows how much India has changed: EAM Dr S Jaishankar at a book discussion on ‘Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery’, in New York. pic.twitter.com/QS19Yz2N6S
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2022
“PM Modi told me, Accha jab khatam ho jayega, mujhe phone kar dena. (When it all ends, call me)’. I told him that it might take a couple of more hours and that I would call up at his office. To this, he responded – ‘Mujhe phone kar dena’,” recalled Jaishankar while praising PM Modi’s leadership.
Further, the Minister said that he was fond of PM Modi even when he didn’t meet him.
#WATCH | “I frankly liked Mr Modi before I met Mr Modi because…,” EAM Dr S Jaishankar recalls his first meeting with PM Modi, in New York pic.twitter.com/VAQUd6A5cq
— ANI (@ANI) September 23, 2022
Speaking at the event, he also elaborated on successful & time-bound evacuation of Indian nationals when the Taliban takeover threatened their safety.
