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It was vintage Vajpayee at his best.
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's address in London to members of the Indian community, following his bilateral talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday afternoon, was one of the highlights of his UK visit, and he did not disappoint his audience.
Addressing some specially invited guests at London's Queen Elizabeth 2 Conference Centre, Vajpayee had his audience eating out of his hand, frequently invoking enthusiastic applause and laughter.
When he said, "Its good to meet so many 'lords'," alluding to the ennoblement of some British citizens of Indian origin, Vajpayee had the NRI audience in splits. "Its good to be lords, you can also become kings," he added.
Victims of his good-humoured jabs also included External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and High Commissioner Ronen Sen, both of whom were seated beside him.
He said that despite all his efforts to get Sinha to make the keynote speech, the latter had refused insisting that the people wanted to listen to the prime minister.
Later, when High Commissioner Sen got up to thank the prime minister, Vajpayee asked the blushing envoy, "Is that all you have to say? Is there nothing more?"
Speaking in fluent Hindi throughout, Vajpayee said, "People have great hopes of India. There is no dearth of resources, no reason why we cannot emerge as a big power."
"India is always proud of those of her children who do well abroad. But you have a duty to the mother country as well," the prime minister said.
Pointing to India's proven democratic credentials, Vajpayee said some people were sceptical when he declared from the ramparts of the Red Fort last August that elections in Jammu and Kashmir would be free and fair.
"You saw the elections for yourselves, you saw they were free. Eight hundred people lost their lives when they attempted to exercise their right to vote despite threats from terrorists."
"Some people call these terrorists freedom fighters, but what kind of freedom fighter kills innocent women and children?" the prime minister asked.
Vajpayee recalled the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament and said both he and opposition leader Sonia Gandhi expressed concern for their mutual safety.
"In spite of our political differences", Vajpayee explained, "she was worried for me and I for her. It is this aspect of India that is the country's greatest strength. When the occasion arises, we all care for each other."
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