Raisina Dialogue: Jaishankar Cites 'RRR' in Jibe at UK, Talks Cricket, Politics

EAM S Jaishankar was in conversation with former UK PM Tony Blair and former British cricketer Kevin Pietersen.

EAM S Jaishankar in conversation with former UK PM Tony Blair and former cricketer Kevin Pietersen. 

(Photo: MEA/Video Screenshot) 

Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue in New Delhi in an interactive session with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar cited the popular Indian film RRR to take a jibe at Britain.

"If I put it delicately, you weren’t the nice guys in the movie," he said while addressing Blair.

Pietersen then interrupted and jokingly asked, "Can I sit here as a South African?" which was followed by laughter in the audience.

Jaishankar also said that India was in an unusual position as it has once again become a “decisively upwardly mobile nation," which other civilisation states, except one, are not.

When asked about India becoming a larger economy than the United Kingdom, Jaishankar said, "Where the UK is concerned, it is a very complex relationship. The most popular film in India last year was RRR and this had to do with the British era and just I would like to put it delicately ‘you weren’t the nice guys in the movie'."

He also spoke of India's dominance in the world of cricket, saying that the situation had been rebalanced.

"I would say it is history which is switch-hitting. It’s hitting the other way. But seriously, in history, you have these ups and downs. It’s not often that actually, countries get a second or third bite at the apple," he said.

Jaishankar was all praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and compared him to a cricket team captain who gave his bowlers ample freedom while expecting them to take wickets.

"With Captain Modi, there is a lot of net practice. The net practice starts at six o’clock in the morning and goes on till fairly late… If you have a particular bowler you have trust in or you have seen perform, you would give them the latitude, you throw the ball to them at the right moment. You trust them to deal with that particular situation," the minister said.