Chennai : The Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate says country should start contributing to world

It is the responsibility of people to ensure that the 21st century is the century of India, Gujarat Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, said on Friday.

“It was widely accepted that the present century was going to be the century of Asia. But it should be turned into the century of India,” Mr Modi said, delivering the Nani Palkhivala memorial lecture at a function organised here by the Palkhivala Foundation.

Noting that in future, the relationship between India and the rest of the world would be based on give and take, he felt that India had to emerge as a country that had something to offer. “Only then would the world take note of you,” he said, interspersing his lecture in English with Hindi.

Emphasising that the economic strength of the country would form part of the foundation of an effective foreign policy and successful security strategies, Mr Modi wanted the potential of the tourism sector to be harnessed fully for creating more jobs.

He criticised the United Progressive Alliance for not being forceful in response when soldiers, manning the border of the country, were killed ruthlessly.

The Chief Minister launched a book – Self Deception: India’s China Policies – authored by former Union Minister Arun Shourie.

‘Cho’ S. Ramaswamy, Editor of ‘Thuglak,’ said Mr Modi was going to be the issue in the forthcoming election to Parliament. Arvind P. Datar and N.L. Rajah, trustees of the Foundation, spoke.