External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday spoke in detail on what exactly goes on the plane when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undertaking foreign visits.
During an interaction in the ongoing Times Now Summit 2022, Jaishankar was asked how is it like travelling with the prime minister.
Sharing the inside view and details, Jaishankar started with a sports analogy and said even if one is a natural player, he or she has to spend a lot of time on the nets to get the game right.
In the case of the Prime Minister, the EAM said, “he has a flair, a persona, a view, an ability to connect, and has tremendous expressiveness”.
However, PM Modi is also an extremely well-prepared person. “He is very thorough, very hard working,” he added.
Jaishankar revealed that typically, a lot of time on the plane is spent on what he described as a “conference type of table”. The minister said a lot of discussions and deliberations are held when PM Modi is midair en route to his foreign destination.
Jaishankar said though he loves his sleep, he often ends up being tired after a flight with PM Modi.
“Sometimes people ask me why I look tired when I get off the plane. This is because we spend a lot of time at the table. And I actually like my sleep,” Jaishankar said.
The minister said they have pre-meeting briefings as well as post-meeting briefings.
“It’s not like a meeting is done and it’s over, there is a continuous brief and debrief, it’s a process. This is something that keeps you on your toes. In order to work with him, there is a backend to what we do,” the minister stated.
Jaishankar said Modi is a team player as well as a good listener. He also likes to ask a lot of questions.
“There is a kind of a team sort of system, he harnesses that very well. By nature he is a team person, his strength that I have seen is his willingness to ask a lot of questions and listen to questions. He is a good listener,” the EAM said.
