We got government off the backs of the people of India, particularly off the backs of India's entrepreneurs. We introduced more competition, both internal competition and external competition. We simplified and rationalized the tax system. We made risk-taking much more attractive.

Life is never free of contradictions

I think whatever I've done, I hope I've earned a footnote in India's long and tortuous history.

My top most priority is to deal with India's massive social and economic problems, so that chronic poverty, ignorance and disease can be conquered in a reasonably short period of time.

Pakistan should be a moderate Islamic state. That it should be a prosperous country is in India's interests, and it is in the world's interests.

The salvation of the world ultimately lies in moving towards universal nuclear disarmament, but that's a long distance away.

What India needs most is a unified food law.