Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Friday night praised Indira Gandhi for ensuring that India became self sufficient in food grains through the Green Revolution.

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"We used to look to foreign lands for food grains. The United States helped us. But we realised that we should be self-sufficient in food grains. I am grateful to Indira Gandhi for ensuring that through Green Revolution," Vajpayee told more than 400 members of the Indian community in the Thai capital.

"Today our grains are sold abroad," he added.

Taking a dig at journalists, Vajpayee said, "We keep reading that the country is going to the dumps, but we still continue, there is something about us and we are doing something right."

"India has a big reserve of grains, a big reserve of foreign exchange and the inflation is under control, We assure you the government is doing well," he told the Indian community that clapped wildly.

The prime minister assured the gathering that the economy was doing very well and said the credit went to both Yashwant Sinha, former finance minister and current foreign minister, and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh.

"Once we had to sell our gold, now we can buy gold from others," he said. A very positive image of the country was emerging, he added.

He took pride in the smooth running of his National Democratic Alliance government and added in lighter vein: "When I am asked how many parties my government has, I say wait let me count."

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