PM oozes confidence

Even the body language has changed. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has lost the slightly diffident stoop of his first few weeks in office. He now walks, talks and acts much more assertively than he has at any point since he was sworn in.

On board Air-India One, on his way to London, he seemed far more confident than he had on his trip to Bangkok, his first as Prime Minister. At an on-board press conference, he spent longer than any Prime Minister before him, answering questions with a manner that while still earnest, was much more assertive.

His government was committed to reforms, he said. There could be no going back on that. He regarded good relations with the US as being among his top foreign policy priorities. India needed more foreign investment. He would follow a policy of continuity - taking off from A.B. Vajpayee's initiative - in relations with Pakistan.

It was as though he didn't care what partymen back home said or how much the Left complained. He was a man who knew what had to be done. And he would do.

Later, at an off-the-record session in his cabin on-board the plane, he was more relaxed but as sure of what he wanted to do. He spoke at length about the absence of a road map for improvement of relations with Pakistan, how the political process in Kashmir could be expanded to involve more people, how the power sector in India is "a national disgrace" and how he has ended the old conflicts between the PMO and the Home Ministry that dogged the last regime.

What has made the difference? Hard to say. But partly, he seemed to be out-of-practice after so many years out of power. Hence his style seemed a little rusty. Now, he's rediscovered the hang of doing things in government. Partly, he seems more secure that the Congress and its president want him to be a full-fledged PM, not a mere cipher.

But mostly, he has now come to grips with the job. He's found that he knows what to do. And that accounts for the new confidence.