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Does Modi do yoga? asks Russian President
St Petersburg, June 20
"Does Modi do yoga?"
That was the question posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he
was told that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started a Ministry
of Yoga.
He was incredulous that a ministry of yoga (it is
called Ministry of Ayush, an abbreviation for departments dealing with
Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy incorporating indigenous
and alternative systems of healing) could be set up, and then smilingly
asked why anyone would do that. He wondered if the man who wants to
spread yoga practise it himself. He was told that it was likely, though
he had not publicly said so.
"He is a good man, and a personal
friend," Putin said in reply to questions from visiting wire service
reporters from around the world, including IANS, one each from a dozen
countries, who met him at midnight at the end of the second day of the
St Petersburg International Economic Forum here.
In response to a
question by IANS, that he and Modi were both being seen as "tough
leaders", Putin said it was not true. "I am not tough. I am always
willing to compromise," adding that often the other side took a tough
stand.
"They say they have two opinions. One that they are
right. And the second that I am wrong," Putin said at his official
residence here which encompasses the Boris Yeltsin Digital Library.
Putin is from St Petersburg.
The interaction with Putin ended at
around 2 a.m. with him saying that often his meetings stretched to the
wee hours of the night. He said he had to meet so many people, and often
many of them would go into lengthy explanation about their issues that
he found it difficult to interrupt.
(Hardev Sanotra is in Russia
at the invitation of St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2015. He
can be contacted at [email protected])