The India I want, I'll never tire of repeating, is a more just and less poor India, one entirely free of foreign influences. If I thought the country was already marching toward these objectives, I'd give up politics immediately and retire as prime minister.

If by happiness you mean ecstasy ... Yes, I've known ecstasy, and it's a blessing to be able to say it because those who can say it are very few. But ecstasy doesn't last long and is seldom if ever repeated.

It depends on what you mean by the word religion. Certainly I don't go to temples and pray to the gods or anything like that.

In an underdeveloped society, the first anxiety is of infant mortality. In an advanced one it is to keep alive the aged.

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.

The India I want, I'll never tire of repeating, is a more just and less poor India, one entirely free of foreign influences. If I thought the country was already marching toward these objectives, I'd give up politics immediately and retire as prime minister.

As a nation, I believe we've acquired faith in ourselves.