A life in diplomacy - M.K.Rasgotra
Mr. M.K.Rasgotra had a career in foreign service spanning 41 years! He joined in 1949 when Nehru was unearthing the basis of India's foreign policy and it's foreign affairs ministry.
Nehru said that peace and freedom are indivisible and that the denial of freedom anywhere MUST endanger freedom elsewhere and lead to conflict & war. On the contrary; though we may witness a small upheaval in the normal functioning of the state of affairs in Bangladesh and India due to denial of freedom to Rohingya minorities in Myanmar but forced withdrawal of freedom from Balochs, Uighurs and many like them, has not endangered freedom anywhere!
Author tells that the primary inception of the so-called Third World was not in Bandung conference but much before that in 1949 when Nehru concerned Asian Relations Conference at New Delhi to condemn the Dutch military's attack to recapture recently liberated Indonesia.
And that Nehru did make efforts on his part to get Tibet the UN Membership but by the time Tibet woke up and realised it's significance, it was too late.
He writes about the stature of the then officials of External Affairs department, how G.S. Bajpai stood up to Nehru and occasionally even made the P.M. to change a decision made on impulse.
According to Mr. Rasgotra, the best part of a young IFS Officer's training lies in her assignments in the first four or five years under caring, interested and sympathetic ambassadors in active missions abroad.
He vividly explains the evolution of IFS for women officers. How Vijay Lakshmi Pandit, who was the then Ambassador to Moscow replied to the Dean of Moscow's diplomatic corps when asked about where would she retire when after the official dinner, men and women separated in two different rooms. She confidently said -" I am an Ambassador and I assert my right to be treated as such. I do not smoke or drink cognac but I shall join the men for political talk".
It was not easy in those days to get the nations respect the femininity of a woman ambassador. A woman speaker in the world's oldest democracy, Britain, was addressed as Mr. Mayor and not Madam Mayor!
He describes the characteristics of a diplomat as per the 19th century American political theorist Benjamin Franklin - the traits that are indispensable in diplomacy include- sleepless tact, immovable calmness and a patience that no folly, no provocations, no blunders can shake!
The author talks about the disappointment of Nehru and his successors with most of their non-career ambassadors. In those days, though the great ambassadors with the likes of Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Krishna Menon, K.M. Pannikar, S.Radhakrishnan elaborated India's distinctive foreign policy on the world stage but reach of them pursued an almost independent foreign policy. Without taking New Delhi in confidence, they conducted their own private negotiations.
Fast forward to 2018, the concept of lateral entry to MEA needs to be debated and rethought!
He writes that how unequipped were the Americans in general and Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles that he is said to have boosted relations with Pakistan because of his misbelief that Pakistan had Gurkhas- the best fighters in the world!
Nehru's preaching of Asian solidarity to such an extent that he allowed India-US relations to deteriorate due to his differences of opinion on Asian issues like Japanese peace treaty, Korean truce negotiations is judged as a grave policy mistake by India. Were Nehru to apply the policy of Non-alignment to US-China affairs in the same manner as US-USSR power struggle, history would have been different.
US is partly to be blamed for militarisation of Pakistan's thinking and foreign policy which till today Trump, and earlier Obama failed to revert. Washington's policy of arming Pakistan and creating a balance of power between India and Pakistan in 1960s had dangerous consequences for South Asian region, the ripples of which can be felt even today.
The author reveals how Vietnam war could have been prevented had Nehru responded to US President's request to him for his advice as the President himself had miniscule knowledge of Asia and it's affairs.
He writes how our embassies in Moscow and Beijing failed to gauge the extent of strains in China-USSR relations. The starling revelation of Kennedy offering India all technical help to launch nuclear bomb before China did and that G.Parthasarathi,
India's then Ambassador to China, was responsible for refusal of this American offer, and how Kennedy's well-meaning offer of lifetime was turned down and how we lost the opportunity of deterring China from launching the 1962 war.
How Nepal played and continues to play, time and again, the China card against India and once even tried to persuade Bangladesh to side with them against India by spreading false propaganda.
How after the death of Indira Gandhi, the next PM Rajiv Gandhi was misled into making grave errors in Sri Lanka by reverting India's policy of not interfering politically or militarily in SL and playing into the hands of LTTE.
As an advice to a diplomat, the author writes that an ambassador who keeps a good table and entertains well- not only officials of the host country but also important opposition leaders, media personalities, distinguished writers, artists and influential civil society figures- gains respect and popularity in the host country.
He makes a valid point whereby he writes that for the wives of diplomats, being a good housekeeper and hostess is a full time job. Governments should find ways to monetarily compensate wives of diplomats for their unavoidable and hitherto unrewarded duties.
Very aptly and briefly, author describes foreign policy as-
- Framework of principles and practical considerations to safeguard state's security and national interest on a reciprocal basis.
- Foreign policymaking is a dynamic process, open to adaptation in accord with the changing conditions of the world.
- That it begins with neighbours, but doesn't remain trapped there. It must transcend the subcontinent's truncated geography.
The opportunity for a PENTAGONAL EQUILIBRIUM among US, Russia, China, Japan and India, if harnessed, would rule out the use of force and make world a safer place to live.
And the primary goal of Indian foreign policy of 21st century should be of forging such an equilibrium through a policy of Engagement With All.
Although India and US are destined to be natural allies, but the author reminds that in cultivating relations with the US, it must always be borne in mind that Washington has a proclivity in a crisis to act primarily and always in its own importance and when a choice between India and Pakistan is forced on it by unforeseen circumstances, then it opts for latter.
According to me, it could be possible that with the emerging closeness between India and US and at the same time, with the growing bitterness of it's relations with Pakistan, this scenario may change; but that change, as of now, appears a bit far in time!
A basic mistake that India did during independence years was to retain British officers in command of the Indian army after independence. Two British generals were in charge of Indian and Pakistani army commands and both were being directed by authorities in London. That is why we failed to clear the Pakistani forces from Gilgit, Baltistan area which is now being explored by China for developing a road link to the Persian gulf!
The author makes some practical recommendations regarding the future of Indian foreign policy, including-
- Benign but Watchful Engaged with neighbours & a differentiated approach for each.
- Harnessing the exceptional value of our relations with three significant neighbours: Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
- Lending credence to Act East policy by constructing a broad gauge railway line and/or a six-lane Highway through Siliguri neck to Myanmar, which has the potential to activate the semi-dormant relationship between these two regions.
- In light of continuing uncertainties in Afghanistan, the author suggests to renew our contacts with our traditional Afghan friends: the Pashtuns, which in my view would greatly help in safeguarding our interests in the region, given the sidelining of Afghanistan-India Strategic Partnership Agreement by the Ghani Government.
