External affairs minister S Jaishankar gave a witty response to how he feels being surrounded by Gujaratis during an interaction with Indian students and young professionals in Dubai on Saturday. Jaishankar, who was elected unopposed in the Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat, said that he “likes” having Gujaratis around as he finds it a very “natural fit”.
“…I like it. For me, it’s quite interesting. In India, everyone has some friends from various parts of the country. Growing up, in various stages of my life, we had families from Gujarat in some way or the other with whom we had connections. But when I went there for elections (Rajya Sabha)…and after that I go there obviously more often than any other state of India…I find it a very natural fit,” Jaishankar said.
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Stating that Gujaratis are probably the most global among all Indians, he said, “There's a certain confidence, and attitude among them.”
“There’s also a very strong community feeling among them…everybody has in India but I feel Gujaratis have it particularly strongly in a good way…So I would say it’s natural that the foreign minister should also be elected by the state of Gujarat,” he said with a smile.
{{/usCountry}}“There’s also a very strong community feeling among them…everybody has in India but I feel Gujaratis have it particularly strongly in a good way…So I would say it’s natural that the foreign minister should also be elected by the state of Gujarat,” he said with a smile.
{{/usCountry}}Jaishankar shared pictures of the event on X, formerly known as Twitter and said he is “Happy to interact with Indian students and young professionals in Dubai today.” “They will at the forefront of building a Viksit Bharat in the Amritkaal,” he captioned the post further.
Addressing the event, the external affairs minister also shared perspectives on transformations in India and the impact it is having on the everyday lives of Indians at home and abroad with the students in Dubai.
“India has not only shown an ability to progress at home but also displayed during its G20 presidency that it has the capability of getting the world to agree on something of common interest at a very difficult and very divisive moment,” he said.
The external affairs minister added, “We today have not only shown an ability to progress at home, but we have shown also that India is capable of getting the world, at a very difficult, very divisive moment, around the table to agree on something common, you know something which is in our common interest. And that too, is something which says a lot about India.”