Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given India’s foreign policy a “spine” that was missing earlier. 

Speaking to NDTV CEO and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, Shah contrasted PM Modi’s tenure with that of his predecessors, including India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“When historians would compare the era of Modi with other Prime Ministers, the result will be in PM Modi’s favour,”  Shah said when asked how history will remember the Modi and Nehru eras.

Nehru remains India’s longest-serving prime minister with more than 16 years in office. PM Modi, with over 11 years in uninterrupted office, is now the second-longest serving PM.

He also holds the distinction of being Gujarat’s longest-serving Chief Minister, from October 2001 to May 2014.

“In the foreign policy of India, after studying it extensively, I have decided that there was a lack of spine in the foreign policy of India. Narendra Modi has done the work of adding the spine to the foreign policy of India,” Shah said, adding that he has known PM Modi for more than four decades.

He described PM Modi’s ability to “mould himself successfully in every role” — from district-level worker to Chief Minister and Prime Minister — as his defining quality.

PM Modi turned 75 on September 17, and to mark the milestone, the BJP launched a ‘Sewa Pakhwada’ (fortnight of service).

Till October 2, the BJP governments at the Centre and in states will hold health camps, cleanliness drives, welfare initiatives, intellectual meet-ups, and fairs promoting indigenous products.