The Hindu : New Delhi News : Disappointment if nuclear deal falls through, says Manmohan

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Disappointment if nuclear deal falls through, says Manmohan

“Will pray to God to give me courage to be graceful under pressure”

Manmohan: I was a politician by accident and became Prime Minister by accident
Chidambaram: I wish we had Mukesh Ambani clones in every ministry

NEW DELHI: As uncertainty continues over the fate of the India-U.S. nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that it would be a disappointment if it fell through and he would pray to God to give him courage to be graceful under pressure.

“I have already said that if the deal does not go through, it will be a disappointment but in life one has to learn to live with many disappointments,” he said.

Dr. Singh was replying to a question after he received the ‘Leader of the Year’ Award from NDTV at a function to give away the ‘Indian of the Year’ awards in various categories here.

Giving away the award, NDTV chairman Prannoy Roy asked him how he would cope with a “disappointment” over the deal, he said: “I have always prayed to God to give me courage. Somebody has described courage as grace under pressure. I have tried to acquire that quality.”

Asked when the general elections will be held, Dr. Singh said: “I hope in 2009 at the right time.”

When suggested whether the present was not the right time, he said: “I won’t answer that question.”

Asked whether he had ever thought of quitting, the Prime Minister said that the job he was holding was a rare privilege which he had always regarded as “political power is societal trust” and the best way was to spend it for the good of the people.

The former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, was given the “Inspirational Leader” Award.

Other awardees were environmentalist R.K. Pachauri; industrialist Mukesh Ambani; music composer A.R. Rahman; chess wizard Viswanathan Award; footballer Baichung Bhutia; actors Rajnikant and Shah Rukh Khan and Param Vir Chakra awardee Bana Singh.

Asked if he sleeps well, the Prime Minister said: “I don’t sleep well all the time. If you are the Prime Minister of one billion people, whatever you do or do not do will have consequences for the one billion people. This is an awesome responsibility.

“Many times not sleeping well is a part of the process of politicians placed in my position.” Mr. Roy said the answer he had given showed that he was not a politician, to which Dr. Singh said he had been in politics since 1991. “I believe life is one long continuous process and I learn and re-learn,” he said.

Dr. Singh said: “I was a politician by accident and became Prime Minister by accident.”

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram pledged to accelerate the pace of economic reforms during the last year of the UPA government.

“[The] Reforms process will go forward even faster in the last year of this government unlike during some earlier governments”, he said after giving the NDTV Businessman of the Year award to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Mr. Chidambaram made these comments while responding to BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, who asked whether “in the last year of the government, we should expect the reforms process to go on.”

Mr. Ambani, who was declared the NDTV Business Leader of the Year, requested Mr. Chidambaram not to raise taxes in the forthcoming budget as the government had reaped the benefits of lower tax rates in the form of higher tax realisation.

To this, Mr. Chidambaram quipped: “One common gene in Ambani and the poorest man in India is that both want no taxes.” All the nominees for the NDTV Businessman of the Year Award, which included Azim Premji, Tulsi Tanti and Kumar Mangalam Birla, have done India proud by creating jobs and wealth. These businessmen, he added, have made a number of people and families happy and “above all made young Indians aspire for better future, greater India, and a glorious nation.”

Describing Mr. Ambani as the great “implementer” of projects who has achieved great success in building refineries, Mr. Chidambaram said: “I wish we had clones of his in every ministry of the government of India.”

The UPA government, which came into power in May 2004, will present the last full budget in February 2008.

Even if the government lasts its entire term, February 2009 budget would only be a vote-on-account. — PTI

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