President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday heaped praises on Prime Minster Narendra Modi while speaking at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai. Mukherjee said Modi had his “own way” of dealing with things.

“He is observant,”Mukherjee said about the PM. “I must give him credit...for quickly acquiring the mastery over foreign relations, external relations and complicated external economy.” The president also said Modi had quickly adapted to the prime minister’s life after having served as the leader of a state administration in Gujarat. Mukherjee also appreciated Modi’s felicitation speech on March 12 when the prime minister had said that one can win an election by majority, but to rule, one needs consensus.

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Mukherjee, however, reminded Modi that during the United Progressive Alliance rule, the growth rate of India was more than 8%. “The base of Indian economy was so strong that it sustained 2008 global economic crisis,” he said.

Mukherjee further expressed concerns over the continued disruption in Parliament and said the primary job of the members in the House to make laws. “I speak with some anguish because my entire public life has been defined by my role in Parliament,” he said. There was no justification for the constant disruption in House proceedings, he said, adding that democracy is undermined when Parliament fails to function effectively.

“If they become dysfunctional, it results not only in institutional paralysis, but also has ripple effects across system,” he said. The president called upon the ruling party as well as the Opposition to break the “vicious cycle” of disruption and disorderly behaviour.

Mukherjee also spoke at a special convocation of the University of Mumbai to confer Honorary Doctor of Law to famous agriculture scientist MS Swaminathan, reported PTI. “We should embrace free conversation and even argument, leaving behind narrow mindsets and thoughts,” he said. “There should be no room for intolerance, prejudice and hatred within spaces of our educational institutions.”