I don't waste time in flowery small talk, as people do in India.

I never believed in the danger of a third world war.

All my games were political games; I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.

When you govern a country, and especially a country so vast and complex as India, you never arrive at anything.

I like to think I've provided this faith. I also think that by providing faith, I've focused their pride. I say focused because pride isn't something you give. It doesn't even break out suddenly; it's a feeling that grows very slowly, very confusedly.

Even under the British there were hostile groups. There were clashes. But, as we found out later, these were clashes provoked by those who had no wish to let us live together - on the eve of the Partition. The policy of keeping us divided was always followed by foreigners, even after the Partition. If Indians and Pakistanis had been together...I don't say as confederated countries but as neighboring and friendly countries...like Italy and France, for example ...believe me, both of us would have progressed much further.

It's true that I refused foreign aid. It's true. It wasn't my personal decision, however - it was the whole country that said no.