28 May,2015 09:05 AM IST | | PTI
Hours after slamming the NDA government, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two discussed issues related to the economy and foreign policy
New Delhi: Hours after slamming the NDA government, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two discussed issues related to the economy and foreign policy.
Singh, a senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member, went to the 7 Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister to meet him. "Very happy to meet Dr. Manmohan Singh ji & welcome him back to 7RCR. We had a great meeting," Modi tweeted later along with their photographs.
In this handout photograph taken by The Indian Press Information Bureau (PIB) on May 27, 2015, former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (L) shakes hands with current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) ahead of a meeting in New Delhi on May 27, 2015. India's former prime minister has accused his successor Narendra Modi of suppressing dissent and undermining democratic institutions, in an unusually outspoken attack a year after losing office. Pic/ AFP
In a statement, Singh's office said the former Prime Minister met Modi at the latter's "invitation" and "they discussed the economic situation in the country and foreign policy issues." Sources close to Singh told PTI that Modi had sent a message yesterday morning, expressing desire to meet his predecessor over tea sometime in the evening yesterday.
This could not fructify and the meeting was scheduled for this evening. Congress leader Anand Sharma also said that the meeting took place at the behest of the Prime Minister who wanted to discuss issues related to economy and foreign policy. They discussed economic and foreign policy issues, he said about the meeting which took place at 6.30 PM.
Earlier in the day, Singh hit out at the Modi government saying the "very idea of India is now under systemic assault". In a scathing attack, Singh alleged that institutions of democracy are under threat and the entire edifice of the welfare state is being dismantled in the guise of promoting faster economic growth.
Asserting that India was the second fastest growing economy in the world during his tenure, the former Prime Minister said there was a "fragileness" in economic recovery under the current dispensation.
