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You're in the right direction, we're impressed, RSS tells Narendra Modi

Sangh Parivar shifts stance towards Pak, says two countries should bury differences and better ties

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Dattatreya Hosabale
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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is impressed with the 14-month-old performance of the Modi government.

"Just 14 months have passed. The government is going in the right direction. There is a lot of time and work to be done.... there cannot be 100 per cent satisfaction for all," RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale told reporters after a three-day coordination meeting of the Sangh and its affiliates.

The key takeaway from the meeting was the Sangh's approach towards Pakistan. Hosabale said India and Pakistan should forget differences and think of how to improve relations. This is a major shift in approach as the Sangh had earlier taken a belligerent stand against talks and terror going side-by-side.

After Hosabale's press briefing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Sangh Parivar leaders. Modi said that the government was working towards bringing a "big change", with the last man in the queue as its target. Seeking the Sangh's support, he said he was proud of his RSS background.

Hosabale said that the Sangh would not be an impediment in the way of the Modi government's road map to engage with Pakistan. Pakistan and Bangladesh were earlier part of India and relations should be improved, forgetting irritants, he said.

"India is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc). Pakistan and Bangladesh are like broken parts of the Indian mainland and share cultural relations. It is evident that people living in these countries are part of our family. Just like brothers in the family, relationship between India and Pakistan have not been cordial for some decades. But we should forget these differences and think of how we can improve the relations," he said.

To a question, whether it was possible to improve ties with Pakistan, given the provocations by that country, he said: "Kauravas and Pandavas were brothers, but for establishing dharma, efforts needed to be made."

The Vajpayee regime, a coalition of over 20 parties, was constantly at loggerheads with the RSS over economic and core issues.

The RSS meeting, which brought the Sangh brass, its affiliates and senior ministers face-to-face, was held amidst Opposition charges that the RSS was remote-controlling the BJP. Hosable said the RSS was not setting the government's agenda but was sharing inputs on issues like internal and external security, terrorism, Maoist violence, economic issues, education, foreign policy and social problems.

He said India needed to come up with an economic model suited to itself, instead of aping western countries, which were facing a crisis.

Asked about the achievements of the Modi government, he said "it has raised the aspirations and expectations of the people."

The RSS indicated that it would adopt a wait-and-watch approach, including on core issues like the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and go by the government's "time-table".

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