In my view, Lord Krishna and Hanuman are great diplomats: EAM Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke about India’s culture, traditions, governance and politics at the Pune Book Festival. Speaking about the duties of diplomats, he said that in his view, Lord Krishna and Hanuman were great diplomats. He said that he was tired of reading the comments written in books by many foreign authors repeatedly that India does not know strategic politics and state management.

Jai Shankar said that we all grew up following culture, traditions and customs. Since foreigners do not know all these things, he said that he wanted to show the world the politics that India has been following for many years. He said that the governance, complex situations and political strategies in the Ramayana will inform our governance practices. He said that Hanuman performed his duties as a diplomat very well at that time.

Jaishankar said that if he was sent to Lanka on one task to bring information about Sita, Hanuman who went there accomplished ten tasks, instilled courage in Sita and fear in Ravana. Similarly, in the Mahabharata, he said that Lord Krishna also tried to broker a truce between the Kauravas and Pandavas and stood by the side of Dharma in the war. He questioned where else we can see greater diplomats than him. He said that he is also moving forward under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi by taking them as an example.