NEW DELHI: Former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh said on Thursday that Narendra Modi got massive mandate due to Pulwama and Balakot and he made full use of the situation.
"If Balakot and Pulwama would not have happened, he would have not got 256 seats. Today he has got 303 seats because he fully exploited Balakot," Natwar Singh said at the launch of the book "Indo-Pak Relations Beyond Pulwama and Balakot" written by U.V. Singh here on Thursday.
Modi made full use of Pulwama and Balakot... After all he was in a political game and not running a tea party, the former Congress leader added.
Stating that the Balakot strike had put India in a strong position, Natwar Singh said, "I think that Modi has got elected for two terms, unless something very drastic happens."
On his former party, Natwar Singh said that he did not see any drastic change in the revival or reinvention of the Congress in the near future.
"The working committee has not met for last several weeks. The Congress for the first time in 135 years is without a President," he said.
The former diplomat said, "Modi is in a very strong position both nationally and internationally, because he has gradually become the international world's legal tender."
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Modi was respected and his maturity had established that he was a leader to be reckoned with, he asserted.
"So anybody who can make a move with regard to Pakistan, it is him and I don't see him doing so," the former Congress minister said.
On Pakistan, he said, "Pakistan will never disappear as a country as the US and China will never allow that to happen. They will support the country monetarily and militarily."
Speaking about Kashmir, Natwar Singh said that most Islamic countries supported Kashmir but very few of them have said it in public because they value their relationship with india.