Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said Saturday that India wants friendly relations with all countries, including Pakistan.
Speaking at an event, titled ‘India Ideas Conclave 2017’, he said, “No country will be allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of India by creating tensions. How can one expect to pay attention to development when there is constant pressure on the border?”
Talking about the holding of elections in India, the Indian vice president said that simultaneous elections should be held at all levels, from Parliament to panchayat, and the entire process should be completed in one month. He also said that political consensus was necessary to realise this plan.
“Politicians cannot focus on development issues since one or another election is being constantly held throughout the country,” he said.
Earlier in the week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had supported the proposal of holding simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Naidu cautioned politicians to refrain from doing politics on the basis of caste, community and religion, saying it could prove detrimental to the growth of the country.
Commenting on terrorist activities in India, Naidu said, “Terrorism has no religion. The western countries failed to understand the pain inflicted on us by our neighbours, who aided, funded and trained terrorists in an effort to destabilise our economy.”
Speaking about the frequent disruption of Parliament, the vice president said that constructive debates should be held to avoid confrontation.
“Rather than trying to know what is the record of this party or other, people will ask us what is the record of Parliament. We have to see that Parliament functions without disruption,” he said.
Naidu recalled that former president Pranab Mukherjee had once said legislators should ‘discuss, debate and decide’. One shouldn’t use the fourth ‘d’, that is ‘disrupt’, Naidu added.
