Narendra Modi today again came in for praise from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor who said the Prime Minister's "personal energy" has brought a new dimension in India's diplomatic relations and that has to be acknowledged.
He, however, there has been no change on the foreign policy front as Modi has been pursuing the ones framed by the UPA government.
"The personal energy that Mr Modi has brought to the diplomacy... He has visited 24 countries in last one year... Doing so he does a right thing in whichever country he goes to leave a positive impression and I think that has to be acknowledged.
"Other thing we should acknowledge is that he has done something in which I had criticised Indian governments in the past enough -- of leveraging our soft power rather than nearly taking it for granted," he said, citing instances like the International Yoga Day.
Tharoor was speaking at the launch of noted scholar C Raja Mohan's book 'Modi's World, Expanding India's Spehere of Influence'.
He, however, said that the Modi government has been pursuing policies similar to those of the UPA and he has taken a different stand to issues than of the BJP.
"The Indo-US nuclear deal... The BJP even brought an no-confidence vote...The same BJP that refused to continue any discussion about the Land Bangladesh Agreement and has ratified. It's not just a continuation of the (UPA) policy, but a reversal of the BJP's policy, which to my mind is a good indication that foreign policy is different from sitting in the South Block and sitting in Gandhi Nagar," the former External Affairs of State said.
