The late BJP minister Arun Jaitley wouldn-t have wanted PM Narendra Modi to cut short his foreign visit in view of the eventuality back home since the PM was likely to discuss important issues such as Jammu and Kashmir among others with the international community during the G-7 summit. If he was alive today, the former finance minister and Modi-s fire-fighter would have told the PM to rely on him and his ministerial colleagues if anything went wrong in the country in his absence. We can say that keeping the Jaitley-induced spirit alive, Modi has stayed back on the foreign tour despite his close friend-s demise.

Jaitley has been part of the erstwhile Jan Sangh and its new avatar BJP throughout his life and has seen the party go through a series of failures, limited success and big victories in 2014 and 2019. As tributes for the leader came in, his friendship with Modi and his Chanakya-type role in shaping the former RSS pracharak-s life into a formidable national figure was highlighted. Jaitley wasn-t just a friend but a philosopher and guide to Modi, who became emotional while paying tribute to the departed leader.