On Board Air India One, Sep 17 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said his praise of the Narendra Modi government was based on facts.
"It's all facts. Everyone knows the Indian economy has been doing badly since 2008-09. The steps taken by the new government will lead to the possibility of greater FDI," he told journalists in a media interaction while returning from Vietnam.
"There are certain positive signs (for the Indian economy," he said.
Prime Minister Modi Tuesday got a welcome boost from Mukherjee, who unexpectedly largely abandoned his prepared speech to a gathering of the Indian community in Vietnam and instead extolled the NDA government's steps to improve the economy and burnish India's global image.
"After the new government (led by Modi) came out with a massive mandate they also worked out... of course, it is too early to formulate cogent policies for the full five years and get it reflected in the plan document and other documents but the first budget presented by the new government outlines some of the crucial policies and there is substantially continuity and there is change (in policy) where it has been found necessary to do it," Mukherjee said in an extempore address at the Indian community reception in Ho Chi Minh on the penultimate day of his four-day state visit to Vietnam.
He also praised the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) foreign policy ventures, especially Modi's recent visit to Japan.
"One very positive aspect is that there is possibility of substantial FDI which was an important outcome of the prime minister's visit to Japan. And it is expected that in the next five years, investment from Japan would be around $25-35 billion," he said.
Mukherjee also expressed high hopes for the much-awaited summit between Modi and US President Barack Obama in Washington later this month.
"Our prime minister is expected to have detailed interactions with US President Barack Obama and therefore the international atmosphere is favourable and I am (also) visiting Vietnam at this juncture when two fastest growing economies - India and Vietnam - are also engaged in having cooperation and interaction," he said.