Minister Jaishankar launches 'Modi@20' in New York

Indian minister S. Jaishankar, who contributed to a special book titled 'Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery' which commemorates 20 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in public life, read excerpts from the book and shared candid moments of his work relationship with the Prime Minister.

'Modi@20: Dreams Meet Delivery" is a compilation of chapters written by S Jaishankar, Amish Tripathi, Prof Manoj Ladwa, PV Sindhu, Anupam Kher, Amit Shah, and Sudha Murthy, among others.

In the book, Jaishankar penned down how he first met the Prime Minister and shared the same with members of the Indian-American Community in New York.

The External Affairs Minister very eloquently recalled the first time he met PM Modi back when he was the ambassador in China and Prime Minister Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

He distinctly remembered PM Modi's eye for detail and preparedness. "He wanted a political briefing, which normally chief ministers are not bothered about, but he gave me an excellent reason.

He said, "Look, I'm abroad. I'm from a different political party. But I do not want to say something which is even a millimetre different from what is my national policy," Jaishankar said during the address.

Recalling the situation in Afghanistan in the year 2016, Jaishankar shared: "It was past midnight, and our consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, was under attack. And we were using phones, trying to figure out what happened."

"All of this was happening and you're juggling phones, trying to keep everybody updated. And then, my phone rang. When the prime minister calls, there is no caller ID. His first question was -Jaage ho? (Are you awake?)...achaa tv dekh rahe ho...toh kya ho raha h waha (what's happening there?)," PM Modi had cryptically asked Jaishankar.

"I told 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' (Call me please)," Jaishankar said.

(ANI)