Quotes from P. Chidambaram

Corruption is not the sole test of your worthiness to form the government.

Evidence points out that if you raise tariffs too much it will increase smuggling.

It is possible that, post-Kyoto, the developed countries will recognise the requirements of the developing world.

Once the war of words begins, truth is the casualty.

Let me tell you, very frankly, when I went to the Harvard Business School I was more or less a committed socialist.

Two successive commissioners in London police were fired by the mayor that came into office. That doesn't mean the police in London is not independent and does not exercise powers. Ultimately it is the political executive that has to answer.

I readily concede that a prime minister is not required to speak on every occasion or on every subject, but when there is a duty to speak, silence is unacceptable. Silence can be a strategy, silence can be a tactic, but silence can never be an answer to the ills of our polity and the fault lines of our society.

A government must always be prepared for the unexpected.

When I came back to India after Harvard Business School, I started as a lawyer and as a trade union leader.

Unfortunately, terror is now linked to immigration, and anyone with dark skin or a beard or a Muslim name is suspect. Russia, France, then the United Kingdom, and now even Germany have no qualms about going far beyond their borders to strike at the enemies of their countries.

As far as the Congress is concerned, we condemn any attempts to oppress the Dalits in strongest terms. If there are parties trying to fan the OBC-Dalit divide in Tamil Nadu, we need to collectively condemn them.

Independence is a very subjective assessment.

I don't think anyone has qualms in saying victory to the people of India. But when a political party appropriates such a slogan and says this is the definition of patriotism, those who say it are patriotic and those who don't are not patriotic, then I reject that definition.

If the exchange rate is a matter of pride, Japan should be only half as proud as India (120 yen to a dollar) and China ten times more (6.2 yuan to a dollar)! My

The last year of the Vajpayee government, 2003–04, was the best ever—not just reckoning the years since 1947 but even going back to the last century, to the years of the East India Company, to the reign of Akbar and of Ashoka, and to the time when our forefathers had discovered Pythagoras's theorem, mastered the art of organ transplant and flew aircraft to other planets.

Contrary to popular belief or desire, in a global economy, the government is no longer the lead player, it is more an umpire. We

The cut in the repo rate is not the end of policy making; it gives the government an opportunity to take bold decisions. Over