Jaishankar takes a jibe at Rahul Gandhi over 'khata khat' in Geneva

'...life is not 'khata-khat'. Life is hard work. Life is diligence. Anybody who's held a job and laboured at it, knows it. So that's my message to you, that we have to work hard at it,' Jaishankar said in an apparent jibe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Geneva: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said one needs to do hard work and that life is not 'khata khat,' in an apparent jibe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

Addressing the Indian community here, Jaishankar was describing the changed India and the infrastructure development that the Narendra Modi government had done during last 10 years when he made a veiled reference to the Congress leader's comment.

Jaishankar spoke about the massive human resources needed to build infrastructure when he said, "Until we develop the human resources, it requires hard work, until you build the infrastructure, until you have those policies. So life is not 'khata-khat'. Life is hard work. Life is diligence." "Anybody who's held a job and laboured at it, knows it. So that's my message to you, that we have to work hard at it," he said.

Earlier in the year, during an election rally as part of his Lok Sabha campaign, Gandhi had promised that if his party won, they will transfer Rs 1 lakh to the account of one woman from every poor household in the country. He was speaking in Hindi and said the transfer will happen "khata khat", meaning immediately.