We're going to speak to somebody who began to bet on India much before anyone else. And we're talking about that man on your screens, the president of Serbia. It's the tallest head of state, Aleksandar Vučić. And his article, in fact, incidentally, was posted on X by Prime Minister Modi. And in that article, President Vučić said that there were at least five or six reasons why he believed that India was going to be the breakout story. Let's go across. I spoke to him a little earlier in the day today. It's a very interesting conversation. Viewers, it touches on a large number of facets of issues that are today shaping the global debate. Listen in.
We are with Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vučić. A man whose article in a newspaper has captured the imagination of this country. He talks about how he first encountered Indians working in London, and that memory, that experience stayed with him. And he after that became one of those European leaders who bet very early on India. Why did he do it? What does he make of India? What does he make of the Indian-Serbian relationship? Let's speak to Aleksandar Vučić. Thank you very much, President, for speaking to us.
We're delighted to be speaking to you. Your piece, op-ed in a newspaper, has sparked imaginations of a lot of Indians. Tell us your first encounter with Indians. You share one thing very in common with Mr. Modi. Both started very humbly, and you started amongst Indians. Tell us a little bit about that.
You know, when I finished my regular service in the army in former Yugoslavia, before we all faced violence and break up of the country, I went to London in order to earn some money, in order to buy something for myself and also to educate myself at least a bit, to learn a language. And I went there and I had some Serbian and Polish friends over there, and they used to work for a Sikh family, and they had a hardware shop at Gloucester Road. You were no doubt visiting London at least once or many times, but it's the first zone, and I was living somewhere in a fourth zone. And in order to save some money, I was walking from the fourth to the first tube station in the third zone, leaving the train in the last of the second zone, and then walking once again to the first zone to Gloucester Road. I wanted to save money and was earning two pounds per hour, and then 2.5, then three pounds per hour, working 10 hours a day. But what was, and at the beginning I was very happy, then I wanted to earn more because I was spending more. But I have to say what I learned from those people. They were working, although what I was doing, selling something, mopping the floor, doing just ordinary jobs, but those people were working more than me. They were coming before me to the shop, those Indian guys, and one general manager was a Sikh guy. And they were really so devoted, better to say than dedicated, and they were so hardworking from Monday to Sunday, no day off, nothing. And always worried about the results, always worried and always calm and very rational people. And what I learned is that they were hiding their emotions because whenever we discussed something, they went emotionally, very emotional, but they were doing their best to keep their calmness and tranquility. And I really learned a lot. And after that, I became one of the best students at Belgrade faculty in Serbia, and well, after that I started...
Indians informed your work ethic, that's what you're saying, and you learned...
This is something that I wrote, but it's even more than that.
It's even more than that.
And you mentioned that many Europeans around you were habituated to underestimating India, but when you saw these people work, you realized that that is the wrong conclusion to draw.
Not only that, there is something else which I didn't write. You know, I was following closely chess, and the way of playing of Viswanathan Anand, I used to love the way he was playing, even with Karpov and even with the bigger players like Kramnik and Kasparov at that time was wonderful. That kind of a talent, of chess imagination, you cannot find anywhere else apart from India. And this was something that I liked very much. And people always rely themselves on something what they feel, what I saw in American movies, but what I saw, and at that time it was eagerness, it was an eye of a tiger, because I met Indian people that were cravingly trying to fulfill their dreams, and they were investing what they had. It was their humbleness and their hard work and their dedication. Without that, doesn't matter how talented you are, doesn't matter how talented you are, you cannot achieve a lot. And this is something which I believe that I at least partly learned from Indian people.
And that's why you've written that India is not waiting for the future as many people say, but helping define it. Now, you met Prime Minister Modi. He's also, of course, put on X your article, and he appreciated the sentiments there.
He was mentioning that even during our today's meeting.
That he read your article, and yeah, he's very good about that. He knows these details. Now, I want to ask you, in your view, has Narendra Modi done, what has he done differently to turn India into a decisive global voice?
