"If there is a rebirth, I would like to be born as a Vietnamese," the late leader George Fernandes had once said.
Addressing the annual conference of Karnataka Planters Association about one and half decades ago in Bengaluru when he was the Defence Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet, the Mangaluru-born described Vietnamese people as a disciplined, committed and determined lot.
Noting that Vietnam had a large share of the world coffee market, he remarked: "I am not grudging that; I am an admirer of Vietnam", and heaped praise on the Southeast Asian country and its people for their rapid progress,
"If there is a rebirth, I would like to be born as a Vietnamese", Fernandes said. They are ready to die for their commitment."
This was "after all the devastation that Vietnam had to go through... none that we (India) had to go through in recent years."
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content