Meeting Modi no endorsement; after 10 years,needed a rethink

Clearing the air about his closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Narendra Modi,along with other diplomats and leaders from 28 European Union (EU) countries,at his residence on January 7,German ambassador Michael Steiner Thursday denied the meeting was an endorsement of Modi. Steiner,who is on his first visit to Ahmedabad for three days,said in an exclusive interview […]

Clearing the air about his closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Narendra Modi,along with other diplomats and leaders from 28 European Union (EU) countries,at his residence on January 7,German ambassador Michael Steiner Thursday denied the meeting was an endorsement of Modi. Steiner,who is on his first visit to Ahmedabad for three days,said in an exclusive interview to The Indian Express,We are very neutral and the EU has not endorsed anything. The EU is not endorsing Rahul Gandhi either or the Congress. It is up to the Indians to decide and nobody else can decide for them as it is a democracy.

The meeting was largely seen as an end of the decade-long boycott of Modi by the EU,following the 2002 riots. Calling the meeting a regular affair,Steiner,who initiated the dialogue with Modi,said,After ten years,we needed to have a look at the situation… and that was the best thing we could do. We spoke on all issues,including economic,political and human rights…

Steiner also revealed that a month before he met Modi,he had also met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. More recently,he met the Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Suggesting that the rethink on Modi had a lot to do with his re-election and the fact that a local court had given him a clean chit in the 2002 riots,Steiner said that since India was a strategic partner,Germany trusted its democracy. …Modi was elected democratically for the third time… and the institutions of India,including the courts,have not put a break on that. Why would we replace the judgment of the people of India? We respect the results of the electoral process… So,of course,we deal with this CM (Modi) and we all do it. I think as partners we have to respect the outcome,otherwise we have to say that we do not respect the democracy which is not what we are saying, he said.

Steiner will flag off an eight-day exhibition at the Gujarat Science City on Friday. The exhibition is organised by Delhi-based German House for Research and Innovation,which fosters and facilitates Indo-German projects in the fields of education,language,science,research and innovation. The German diplomat met Governor Kamla Beniwal and other government functionaries. He will also be meeting Muslim leaders and other NGOs. He will also visit Kendriya Vidyalaya and the Gandhi Ashram in Ahmedabad.

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Meeting Modi no endorsement; after 10 years,needed a rethink

Meeting Modi no endorsement; after 10 years,needed a rethink