'Life Is Not Khata-Khat': Jaishankar Takes A Jibe At Rahul Gandhi, Backs Hard Work Over Quick Fixes For Growth

Underlining the importance of human resources for India’s growth, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said one needs to do hard work and that life is not ‘khata khat,’ in an apparent jibe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Speaking to the Indian community in Geneva, Jaishankar highlighted the infrastructure development achieved by the Narendra Modi government over the past 10 years. During his remarks, the minister made a subtle reference to a comment made by the Congress leader, which drew laughs from the audience.

Earlier this year, during an election rally as part of his Lok Sabha campaign, Gandhi had promised that if his party won, they will transfer Rs 1 lakh to the account of one woman from every poor household in the country. While speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader said the transfer will happen “khata khat”, meaning immediately.

‘Khata-Khat’

The external affairs minister spoke about the massive human resources needed to build infrastructure when he said, “Until we develop the human resources, it requires hard work until you build the infrastructure, until you have those policies. So life is not ‘khata-khat’. Life is hard work. Life is diligence.” “Anybody who’s held a job and laboured at it, knows it. So that’s my message to you, that we have to work hard at it,” he said.

Jaishankar was in Switzerland for a two-day visit from September 12-13. During the visit, he interacted with a large gathering of the Indian Community and Friends of India at the Permanent Mission in Geneva. He highlighted rapid strides made by India and India’s vision of engaging with the world.

The minister also delivered a talk on “Global Tectonics: The Indian View of a World in Churn” at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), which was attended by a cross-section of people in the city, including from the diplomatic community, academia, think tanks, student community and the Indian diaspora.