With P Chidambaram joining the 'one eyed king' debate, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today hit back saying it is surprising that former Finance Minister finds India a "one eyed wonder" when the world finds it a bright spot.
India, in fact, has moved far away from the policy paralysis which the UPA government had inflicted, she said.
"When the rest of the world finds India a bright spot, it is surprising (that) the former FM P Chidambaram thinks we are a one eyed wonder.... It is a reality that India today has moved far away from the policy paralysis the UPA inflicted on us," the Commerce and Industry Minister said in series of tweets.
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A debate has been continuing ever since RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan made comments on India being a 'one eyed man being the king among the blind', with regard to country being termed as a bright spot in an otherwise gloomy world economy.
Soon after that, Sitharaman had said that Rajan should have used better words.
In a newspaper column, Chidambaram asked as to what did Rajan "say that deserved a snub from the commerce minister? He said that the estimated growth rate of GDP of about 7.5 per cent makes India the 'one-eyed king in a land of the blind'. The government should be flattered that the governor has endorsed its estimate of GDP growth".
Referring to the country's "terrible exports performance" in the last fiscal as a "black spot", he said: "While Dr Rajan's choice ow words is being needlessly debated, I think the Commerce Minister's choice of silence is inexcusable".
Sitharaman in her retort also raked up the issue of St. Kitts and Ishrat Jahan case.
"In St.Kitts affair, the then Rajiv Gandhi Govt fabricated a fake bank a/c in VP Singh's son's name- a crime of forgery.. @PChidambaram_IN. In Ishrat Jahan case, meddling with the affidavits, is there a crime of perjury with a dash of anti-national brazenness? @PChidambaram_IN," she tweeted.
"Thank God @PChidambaram_IN, I don't suffer from a son stroke!," she added, in an apparent reference to his Karthi.
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Meanwhile the commerce ministry in a statement said that a strong services sector backed by a manufacturing sector targeted for higher growth through initiatives like Make in India, can play a pivotal role in the growth of our economy and enable it to find its rightful place amongst world economies.
Government recognises the importance of the service sector today as an agent of change and transformation for the country, it said.
"As per provisional numbers released by RBI for the current financial year, the service export figures for April to September 2016 have touched USD 80 billion as against USD 77 billion for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal - a rise of almost 4 per cent," it added.
