'Vajpayee's statecraft is creative, imaginative': Executive Director of Lowy Institute

Ahead of the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Dr Michael Fullilove, Executive Director of the Lowy Institute of Australia asserted that the statecraft of Vajpayee was “creative and imaginative”. Speaking at the second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture, Fullilove stated that Vajpayee was a poet and a politician. He highlighted that the former Prime Minister showed his readiness to scrap the past habits, according to ANI.

Dr Michael Fullilove underscored that former PM Vajpayee showed his eagerness to have new friends and sought new ways to perform different tasks. He underlined that Bajpayee believed in the India-US ties and he also looked towards the east. Furthermore, he compared diplomacy with cricket and mentioned that the ties between different countries are similar to cricket. He pointed out that Vajpayee had a close relationship with the game of cricket. He added that the game of cricket has “important lessons” to the foreign policies of both India and Australia. 

“Prime Minister Vajpayee was a poet as well as a politician. Both as an External Affairs Minister and Prime Minister, his statecraft is creative and imaginative. With his belief in the relationship between India and the United States and his determination to look east, Prime Minister showed a willingness to shred off the habits of the past and seek new friends and new ways of doing things,” Dr Michael Fullilove said as per ANI.

Good Governance Day

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary which falls on December 25 is observed as Good Governance Day. In its parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, December 21, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned to hold activities on Good Governance Day. Union Minister Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Good Governance Week campaign “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur”.

Jitendra Singh highlighted that the “Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur” campaign is aimed to create a national movement for good governance and inspire the stakeholders both in the government and outside the government, according to the press release by the government via the Press information bureau. He said that as part of the 'Good Governance' week, the Union government will conduct a nationwide campaign in all districts, states, and Union Territories to address public grievances and improve service delivery. The Good Governance Week is celebrated from December 20 to 25. 

(Inputs from ANI)

(Image: ANI/PTI)