Mumbai, October 13: In 2003, the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s office denied that George W Bush sought his help in the US-led war in Iraq but veteran journalist Vinod Mehta says Vajpayee told him that the American president had asked for Indian troops to be deployed there.
“My best friend in politics was a gentleman called Atal Behari Vajpayee. One day, I was sitting with him and he said he was expecting a phone call from George.”
“I said is it George Fernandes? He said, no, George Bush. Soon the call came. He returned after 5-10 minutes. I asked him what happened. Vajpayee said, George says you send your soldiers in Iraq.”
“I asked him what had he told Bush. Vajpayee replied I told him I will think it over,” Mehta, editor-in-chief of Outlook, said at a function here Tuesday night to celebrate the magazine completing 15 years.
Recalling the witty side of Vajpayee, Mehta said he used to meet the BJP stalwart frequently and chat and share jokes.
“He was normally full of humour but one day, when I went to meet him, I said Vajpayee ji, today you don’t look the usual cheerful self. He said after you leave, (AIADMK leader) Jayalalitha will come.”
Delhi is full of editors who think they run the country, Mehta said. “We journalists may have the best seats in the match but we are not the players. We make the mistake of thinking that we are players,” he said.
-PTI