Shimla:

The world is in a tense situation as ongoing conflicts are not likely to end so quickly and in this scenario, India needs a strong and powerful leader with standing and respect and a stable government, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday.

Interacting with a selective group of media persons in Shimla, he said there are ongoing conflicts in Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza-Iran and there are issues on the Indian borders too, adding a clear message should go that India has a strong leadership.

“The world is in a tense situation and the ongoing conflicts would not end so quickly and that’s why India needs a stable government, a strong and powerful leader with networking, standing and respect,” he said.

“If your family was in Ukraine during the Russia-Ukraine war, who would you want at the top of the nation – Prime Minister Narendra Modi or some other face,” Jaishankar asked.

“I see four years of difficult times ahead and the electorates should wisely vote as similar conflicts could happen on our borders,” he told the media persons.

China is constructing roads, bridges and a model village at the border on the land it took in 1962 and had made a road to Siachen with the coordination of Pakistan and India has also deployed forces, improved logistics on the border and the budget for India-China border has been increased from Rs 3000 crore to Rs 15,000 crore, the minister said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)