When Modi told Kissinger about India's efforts to become $5t economy

HENRY Kissinger, the former US secretary of state who passed away in Connecticut on Wednesday (29), was known to be an India hater during his active days in diplomacy and geopolitics but in years prior to his death, he was more liberal in his take on India and even batted for robust ties between the US and the India of prime minister Narendra Modi.

Despite his ill health, he had made time to listen to the Indian leader's address when he visited the US on a state visit in June this year.

In October 2019, Kissinger travelled to India at the age of 96 where he met Modi during talks with the JP Morgan International Council in New Delhi as one of its top members. Besides Modi and Kissinger, former British premier Tony Blair, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former US defence secretary Robert Gates and former Australian prime minister John Howard were also present on the occasion.

Read: Kissinger's hate-love connect with India went on for decades

Modi, who individually spoke to Kissinger, had said on X, formerly Twitter, that he had spoken to the top leaders about India's efforts in the fields of health, education and becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

About his meeting with Kissinger, Modi said on X, "Glad to have met Dr. Henry Kissinger. He has made pioneering contributions to international politics and diplomacy."

The Indian prime minister had said that he had a conversation in detail with the likes of Kissinger, Blair and Rice about wide-ranging global issues.