Srinivasan Jain's Father Recalled for Non Performance - Rediff Interview

7/28/2019 Srinivasan Jain's Father Recalled for Non Performance - Rediff Interview

1/5


2/5

2/16/12 Redif f On The NeT: The Redif f Interv iew/L C Jain

2/5

I will give you an example of the situation in the MEA today. When I was

sent to South Africa as high commissioner, a person employed by the

government was deputed to join me. This person's wife and six-month-old

infant were to join him a month later. But his wife and infant were asked to

vacate the government quarters even while staying in Delhi, forcing them to

stay with some friends. The person reached Pretoria in January and in

February asked the MEA for permission to bring over his wife and child.

He was told to wait. Reason: elections and a new government, even thoughthis was a routine matter.

After the new government took office, I asked (foreign secretary) K

Raghunath to expedite the matter since the man was extremely worried

about his wife and child. There was no reply. I have asked several times

why a government employee was being treated so badly. I was even willing

to send him back. But there must be a decision either way. Till date, no

decision has been taken. Raghunath is supposed to look after the morale of

his staff, what has he done?

I was told that all my communications were bogged down in the PMO.

These guys can't speak up in such a simple case. No one speaks up.

What grievance do you have against the MEA?

I have no personal grievance. All I have done is give suggestions on how to

restore relations with South Africa. These include giving the MEA freedom

to do its job; to have a policy planning division in the MEA which can give

a wider perspective to the evolving world. I have also said there must be afull-time external affairs minister (there is only a minister of state). I have

asked to be made that minister. I have also said that given our broad

relations with South Africa, it can't be funnelled only through the diplomatic

mission but must also involve the society. We have one and a half million

Indians in South Africa who are keen to learn Tamil, Telugu, Bharat

Natyam, etc, all of which needs more societal involvement.

What is Brajesh Mishra or the BJP's grouse against you?

Until the Pokhran tests, Mishra did not figure on my screen. It is he who issupposed to have said in Delhi that I had failed to defend India's nuclear

tests effectively, thus embarrassing the BJP government. The fact is that an

independent assessment carried out by the MEA stated that the South

African mission did an excellent job in projecting India's case.

The other complaint was that I had not developed sufficient diplomatic

muscle since South Africa had criticised India's nuclear tests, ignoring the

fact that when France conducted nuclear tests in 1996, the criticism was far

more trenchant. Regarding India, South Africa only said on May 12: 'In

policy, South Africa does not support nuclear tests, and we hope that it will

not affect the peace process in South Asia.'.

New Delhi was apprehensive that South Africa might introduce or second
http://www.rediff.com/news/bomb.htm


3/5


3/5www.redif f .co.in/news/1998/nov/05jain.htm

a resolution against the nuclear tests during the NAM ministerial meet on

May 21 at Cartagena, Colombia. The SA government assured me that this

would not happen. But when the meeting was on, Vajpayee declared that

'India is a nuclear power state', which goes beyond mere testing. So SA

prepared a resolution in Cartagena saying all earlier resolutions passed

against nuclear weapon states would now also apply to India. The Indian

delegate in Colombia asked me in Pretoria to stop this resolution. I pointed

out that since both the Indian minister of state (Vasundhara Raje) and theSA ministers were in Colombia, they should spoke to each other.

Anyway, I then requested Nelson Mandela's office not to move the

resolution. Mandela's office's message to the SA foreign minister in

Colombia upset him terribly who asked why the Indian delegation did not

speak to him directly. Moreover, the Indian delegate did not even assuage

his feelings then, leaving a bitter taste.

What happened during Mishra's visit to SA?

In June, I was informed that special envoy Mishra was visiting and wanted

to meet Mandela and deputy president Thabo Mbeki. I sought the

appointments, as per protocol, via the foreign minister's office. New Delhi

asked me to approach Mandela and Mbeki directly. I refused, pointing out

that we had already hurt the South African foreign minister in Colombia. I

was warned that if the meetings didn't occur, I would be misunderstood in

Delhi. I replied that my job is to ensure that India is not misunderstood.

Mandela's office asked what was the need for the meeting since Mandelaand Vajpayee had already had two long telephonic conversations covering

all topics. Mishra met Mbeki in July, and while he brilliantly presented

India's case, he failed to ask the other side's opinion. Moreover, by then,

Kashmir was an issue and Pakistan was seeking third party mediation,

something which I had already rejected. I thought Mishra would explain

our stand on Kashmir but he did not utter a word.

When Mishra met the foreign minister and foreign secretary, he spoke

lightly about the "slight misunderstanding" in Colombia. This made the

foreign secretary extremely angry and he stated that asking a draft to beheld back was a serious matter. Mishra then tried to cover his tracks and

spoke about Indo-SA friendship. To this, the foreign secretary said as

friends, it should be possible to have differences also.

I found that at this stage, all of Mishra's diplomatic experience crumbled.

This was not the PMO where everyone falls at your feet, it was a

negotiating table where the other side opposes you. I broke the stalemate

by speaking about the wide range of Indo-SA relations. Mishra achieved

nothing in limiting damage but left behind a little damage.

Earlier you asked why the MEA officials don't intervene. In Pretoria no

MEA official thought it fit to correct Mishra. Unfortunately, our system

does not allow juniors to speak up. It is sad that our prime minister has


4/5



given so much power to his special envoy. I was even told that it is Mishra

who is preventing the appointment of a full-time foreign minister.

What happened at the NAM summit in Durban?

When both the foreign office delegates met, the South Africans showed us

a draft to which India replied that this draft "will hurt bilateral relations". I

was shocked. Under whose authority can officials say that bilateralrelations will be hurt? Even the cabinet alone cannot do that, the entire

country has to be involved. The South African delegate officer met me and

asked why the Indian team was so touchy over a simple draft?

I then arranged a meeting where the Indian delegates convinced the South

Africans about our feelings and got the draft changed. But before the

meeting began, the South African foreign secretary called Raghunath's bluff

on breaking relations. Raghunath then sought to play down the threat, but it

had certainly strained relations.

The next day Mandela spoke and said Kashmir was an outstanding issue

where NAM countries can help. Instead of explaining our view to South

Africa against outside mediation, Mishra took the matter in his hands. He

decided that the PM in his speech must declare that the remarks were

"unwarranted and unacceptable", both very strong words. If any

consultations were held, I would have suggested that we tell Mandela

about our feelings on the subject. Being a gentleman and the host, Mandela

would have simply put his arms around Vajpayee and issued a clarification.

The speech was read out but evoked no response.

The next day, Raghunath told me they were worried about Vajpayee

returning without a South African clarification. I suggested we instead get

Mbeki to speak to Vajpayee. I then asked a friend, a senior official in

Mbeki's office, to help out. First, we wanted them to talk over the phone,

but the Indian side stalled that idea. Time was running out as Vajpayee was

scheduled to depart that afternoon. Next, I asked my wife, who knows

Mbeki's wife very well, and got her to request Mbeki to meet Vajpayee

briefly when he enters the session hall. That is finally what happened. The

entire hall saw that instead of going to the front of the hall, Mbeki wentback to meet Vajpayee where he assured him that South Africa had no

intention of mediating.

When the media met Vajpayee and asked him what transpired, Vajpayee

only replied, 'Can't you make out? I am smiling.' But at night, Mishra

declared that SA had apologised whereas Mbeki had only explained his

country's position. I immediately asked the MEA to issue a clarification,

pointing out the consequences of a wrong statement from the PM's special

envoy.

Do you think Indo-SA ties have been badly harmed?

Indo-SA ties are so deep that all these are like scratches on the surface.


5/5



But why I am speaking out is to give a warning to be careful, to use our

experience in our diplomacy. South Africa is a very important country in

the African continent and will play a major role in the coming years. We

must not lose our goodwill with them.

The Rediff Interviews

Tell us what you think of this interviewHOME | NEWS | BUSINESS | SPORTS | MOVIES | CHAT | INFOTECH | TRAVEL

SHOPPING HOME | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS

PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK
mailto:[email protected]://www.rediffmail.com/rediff/login/rediff.asphttp://members.rediff.com/http://www.rediff.co.in/therediffhotels/index.htmlhttp://www.rediff.co.in/therediffmusicshop/index.htmlhttp://www.rediff.co.in/therediffbooks/index.htmlhttp://www.rediff.com/shopping/index.htmlhttp://www.rediff.com/travel/travhom1.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/computer/comphome.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/chat/chathome.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/entertai/enthome.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/sports/sporhom1.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/business/busihome.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/news/newshom1.htmhttp://www.rediff.com/index.htmlmailto:[email protected]://www.rediff.com/news/inter.htm

Srinivasan Jain's Father Recalled for Non Performance - Rediff Interview

Documents

Transcript of Srinivasan Jain's Father Recalled for Non Performance - Rediff Interview