ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE

There was an implicit conviction that the UN would be stronger than the sum of its constituent member-states.

Global interdependence today means that economic disasters in developing countries could create a backlash on developed countries.

You can change friends but not neighbours.

In the euphoria after the Cold War, there was a misplaced notion that the UN could solve every problem anywhere.

We hope the world will act in the spirit of enlightened self-interest.

We believe that the United States and the rest of the international community can play a useful role by exerting influence on Pakistan to put a permanent and visible end to cross-border terrorism against India.

The Bio-diversity Convention has not yielded any tangible benefits to the world's poor.

The overwhelming public sentiment in India was that no meaningful dialogue can be held with Pakistan until it abandons the use of terrorism as an instrument of its foreign policy.

People who ask us when we will hold talks with Pakistan are perhaps not aware that over the last 55 years, every initiative for a dialogue with Pakistan has invariably come from India.

Our nuclear weapons are meant purely as a deterrent against nuclear adventure by an adversary.

The UN's unique legitimacy flows from a universal perception that it pursues a larger purpose than the interests of one country or a small group of countries.

No state should be allowed to profess partnership with the global coalition against terror, while continuing to aid, abet and sponsor terrorism.

If Pakistan claims to be a crucial partner in the international coalition against terrorism, how can it continue to use terrorism as an instrument of state policy against India? How can the international coalition condone Pakistan-directed killings of thousands of innocent civilians – women and children included – to promote a bizarre version of ‘self-determination’?

We do not believe that a nuclear war should be fought and we do not believe that a nuclear war can be won.

Poverty is multidimensional. It extends beyond money incomes to education, health care, political participation and advancement of one's own culture and social organization.

International institutions like the UN can only be as effective as its members allow it to be.

My government is committed to carrying out electoral reforms. It is our firm resolve to keep criminal elements away from power.

Labour reforms are not anti-worker.

Let no one challenge India's secularism.

For me, power was never an attraction.

Our frequent initiatives to normalise relations with Pakistan are not a sign of our weakness; rather, they are an indication of our commitment to peace.

If Pakistan had not accepted the demand to stop cross-border infiltration and the United States had not conveyed to us Pakistan's guarantee to do so, then nothing could have stopped a war.

It is a matter of concern that science departments in India's vast university system have suffered greatly due to lack of investments, both material and in terms of faculty.

We believe in resolving all disputes peacefully.

The BJP is not a party dependent on a single individual, nor is it tied to the apron strings of a family.