The fact that Syed Akbaruddin's witty one-liners at media briefings earned him the nickname of the "sage on the stage" within the ministry of external affairs' external publicity division can be attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi's penchant for coining catchy phrases, strongly in evidence during his recent trips to Nepal and Bhutan, seems to have infected the ministry. Thus, at a farewell ceremony the ministry organised for Officer on Special Duty (Press Relations) Jitender Pal Singh, who will now be India's Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad, the division's head described the man as the media's "guide by the side", complimenting Singh for his adept handling of journalists.
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