India Siding With U.S. Against China Can Be Disastrous, Says Natwar Singh

Adding that "the Prime Minister should visit Russia and further strengthen relations." Modi will embark on a five-day high profile visit from tomorrow to the US during which he will have a power-packed schedule of meetings - official, business and public - apart from addressing the UN General Assembly on September 27 and bilateral talks with US President Barack Obama.

Singh, a former diplomat, said that before becoming the Prime Minister, Modi met him in February and discussed foreign issues and he told him that there was a need to strengthen relations with neighboring countries.

On relations with China, he said both India and China are mature country but the foreign relations of China are far ahead from India as it existed in traditional form.

Singh said that relations with Pakistan were "accident prone" and people of that country want good ties with India.

Criticizing former prime minister Manmohan Singh on foreign policy matters, he said, "Manmohan Singh is a gentleman, but not a leader".

While claiming to be an admirer of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Singh highlighted three mistakes he made in context of foreign policy. He said that taking the Kashmir dispute to UN, failure in resolving border disputes with China and not taking up the opportunity of having a permanent seat in the UN Security Council were some mistakes Nehru made.

Singh was speaking at a lecture on the present NDA government's foreign policy, organised by Prabha Khaitan Foundation in memory of novelist and poet Prabha Khaitan.

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