Quotes from Nirmala Sitharaman

Bofors was a scam. Rafale is not.

I respect the Forces... but civil services also have a contribution to make. They are there to bridge administration with Forces. They are critical, and I give credit to them. I don't claim to have done miracles in bridging it, but I have just said the two lines can go parallel.

The BJP does not intend to use Parliament to project Congress's corruption.

The government's intention is to function, to have debates in Parliament, and to work in the interest of the people.

It's one thing to get the money apportioned in the budget; the other is to utilise it completely.

Bilaterals are like building blocks for multilaterals.

I don't think I have suffered for want of being a Cabinet minister. I don't have a Cabinet minister to whom I report. I report directly to the Prime Minister.

The challenge we face as a government is meeting expectations - not specific expectations, but the larger expectations: things that need to be changed and that Narendra Modi will do it as though he has a magic wand.

None of us should play party to any corporate warfare. We cannot become pawns in the hands of corporate giants' warfare to constantly bully the government, to throw misinformation to the public, tell part-truth and part-story to the public.

We are a party which believes that we work in the national interest, not just to please my opposition.

We want our exports to perform better. We want more exports. We want to reach out to more countries selling our products, and for that, a weaker rupee will be anytime better.

Post globalisation, the debate has been, 'How much more are we going to liberalise?'

Many countries which are no longer able to afford their public health systems, which have made certain promises within their countries to purchase from free market or from other economies, are approaching us seeking help with the supply of generic drugs, which is opening a very big room of opportunity for us.

A border is a border. I have to be conscious of both my borders. I will also have be conscious of my sea. It is less talked about.

There is something different between defence deal and deal in defence.

There are several areas where the border is not completely defined and demarcated.

For me, representing India, as much as I can give, I need reciprocal things to be given to me. If I am willing to offer tariff concessions on goods, I want something to be offered by them to boost India's services.

A buyer can buy anything from wherever he gets it cheap. Where will the Indian trader or farmer go in this case? Are we ready to see people sitting with their product and no international retailer wanting to buy from them?

Every year, I have given Rs 20,000 crore worth of projects to HAL. But the previous UPA government gave just Rs 10,000 crore projects.

It's only under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership that the country can foresee a bright future.

A lot of discussions and debates happen in our party. Isn't it good to have a democratically run party rather than a dynastic one? So obviously, discussions do happen, and they are for the good.

If exporters are looking at various factors which influence the performance, the fluctuating rupee will certainly be a factor.

I understand that the rupee is fairly market determined.

We will ensure that the important characters of what make 'Make in India' an important flagship programme for PM Modi is given full play for defence production. 'Make in India' needs to take over so we benefit from what is manufactured in India and finds an international market.