In Service of Emergent India

Singh Jaswant

Description

Memoir of an Indian diplomat that sheds light on a critical period in India's history

In Service of Emergent India is an evocative insider's account of a crucial period in India's history. It provides an in-depth look at events that changed the way the world perceived India, and a unique view of Indian statecraft. As Minister of External Affairs, Defense, and Finance in the BJP-led governments of 1996 and 1998-2004, Jaswant Singh was the main foreign policy spokesman for the government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the 1998 nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the hijacking to Kandahar, Afghanistan, of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, and the Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan, as well as other key events. In an account that is part memoir, part analysis of India's past and future prospects, Singh reflects on his childhood in rural Rajasthan at the end of the colonial period, his schooling and military training, and memories of Indian Independence and the Partition of India and Pakistan. He analyzes the first four decades of Indian nationhood under Congress Party rule, ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan, Sino-Indian relations, and post-9/11 U.S.-Indian relations.

Contents

Foreword by Strobe Talbott
Preface: Prelude to Honor
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations

Part I. A Look Back
1. Memories of a Sunlit Land
2. Born of the Same Womb: Pakistan
3. India: The Journey from Nation to Statehood

Part II. Challenge and Response
4. Pokhran II: The Implosion of Nuclear Apartheid
5. Pokhran Looks East
6. The Asian Two: India and China

Part III. Statecraft Is a Cruel Business
7. Troubled Neighbor, Turbulent Times: 1999
8. Troubled Neighbor, Turbulent Times: 2001
9. Engaging the Natural Ally
10. The Republican Innings
11. Some Afterwords

Appendixes
Glossary
Index

Sujets

• International Relations
• Political
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• Lettres et linguistique
• South Asia
• News
• Biography
• General officer
• South
• Politics
• History of Asia
• General
• Autobiography
• Asia
• India

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 21 septembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253028006
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

In Service of              Emergent India

This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
http://iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders         800-842-6796
Fax orders                   812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail          [e-mail]
An earlier version of this work was published by the author in 2006 in India as A Call to Honour.
© 2007 by Jaswant Singh
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, withoutpermission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution onPermissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standardfor Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Singh, Jaswant, date   In service of emergent India : a call to honor / Jaswant Singh ; foreword by Strobe Talbott       p. cm.   Previously published in India as: Call to honour. 2006.   Includes index.   ISBN 978-0-253-34936-1 (cloth)  1. India—Foreign relations—1984– 2. India—Politics and government—1977– I. Singh, Jaswant, Call to honour. II. Title. III. Title: Call to honor.   DS480.853.S579 2006   327.540092—dc22   [B]
2007005241
1  2  3  4  5  12  11  10  09  08  07
Book design: Alcorn Publication Design
 
 
 
 

(A free translation)
All your radiance, only that, no more, Raghurai *
Not mine, no, not mine.
( * Descendant of Raghu)      

“non nobis Domine non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam”
Not unto us O LORD, not unto us but unto thy name, give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth’s sake
[Psalm 115:1]      

In Him I have put my trust and to Him I turn penitently
Sura Hud Verse 88 (11.88)      
Contents
Foreword by Strobe Talbott
Preface: Prelude to Honor
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Part I. A Look Back
  1. Memories of a Sunlit Land
  2. Born of the Same Womb: Pakistan
  3. India: The Journey from Nation to Statehood
Part II. Challenge and Response
  4. Pokhran II: The Implosion of Nuclear Apartheid
  5. Pokhran Looks East
  6. The Asian Two: India and China
Part III. Statecraft Is a Cruel Business
  7. Troubled Neighbor, Turbulent Times: 1999
  8. Troubled Neighbor, Turbulent Times: 2001
  9. Engaging the Natural Ally
10. The Republican Innings
11. Some Afterwords
Appendixes
Glossary
Index
Illustrations follow page 264
Foreword by Strobe Talbott
This book deserves international attention because of what it tells usabout the author’s country, his time in its leadership, and the man himself.Jaswant Singh is a remarkable figure in the annals of diplomacy—someoneof exceptional intellect, integrity, erudition, breadth of experience, andforce of personality.
It is not just a cliché but an important fact of our era that India is “theworld’s largest democracy.” It is on its way to becoming the world’s largestcountry as well, since its population, already over 1.1 billion, will, in thecoming decades, surpass that of its neighbor China.
Moreover, as the title of this book asserts, India is indeed “emergent.”Not very long ago, it was a big country with big problems and a big chipon its shoulder. Its statist economy was largely closed to the world, andit prided itself on its prominent place in the Nonaligned Movement, ananachronism after the end of the Cold War. India’s relationship with theUnited States was frequently described as one of “estrangement.”
That changed in the 1990s, first with the opening of the economy(thanks largely to the reformist policies of the then finance minister, nowprime minister Manmohan Singh) and then with the adoption of a moreassertive foreign and defense policy. A defining moment came in May of1998, when India—to the surprise and acute displeasure of the UnitedStates and much of the rest of the world—conducted a nuclear weaponstest in the desert of Rajasthan, blasting its way into a club from whichit had previously been excluded. That club consisted of the five countriesthat also happened to be permanent members of the United NationsSecurity Council. India was putting the world on notice that it intendedto be not just a regional power but a global power as well.
Jaswant Singh was, at that time, an influential figure in the BJP, theprincipal party in the National Democratic Alliance, which governedIndia for six years, from 1998 to 2004. It was during that period thatI came to know him. President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee assigned us the task of engaging in a “dialogue” that was intended to manage our governments’ disagreement over India’s decisionto test while improving the overall relationship. These goals were obviouslyin some tension with each other.
When we began, Mr. Singh was Mr. Vajpayee’s deputy on the powerfulPlanning Commission and his principal spokesman on foreign policy(the prime minister himself retained the title and portfolio of minister ofexternal affairs). Over a period of two and a half years—during which Iwas deputy secretary of state and Mr. Singh held (sometimes simultaneously)the portfolios of minister of foreign affairs, finance, and defense—we met fourteen times at ten locations in seven countries on three continents.Those encounters added up to the most intense and prolonged setof exchanges ever between American and Indian officials at a level higherthan ambassadors. We were, in effect, sherpas who prepared the way forthe breakthrough summit that President Clinton had with Prime MinisterVajpayee in New Delhi in March 2000.
We were less successful in advancing the cause of nuclear nonproliferation.We might have made more progress had it not been for domestic setbacksand pressures in both our countries—an argument I have made inmy own account of the dialogue. *
Insofar as our dialogue made a contribution to the U.S.-Indian relationship,it was largely because of Jaswant Singh’s ability to advocate and defendhis government’s position while instilling in me and other American officialsa high degree of trust and respect. That brings me to another word inthe subtitle of this book: “honor.” Even though our dealings were markedby profound and often irreconcilable differences, I found his conduct to be,without exception, honorable. When he told me what he thought he couldaccomplish or deliver, I believed him. When he explained why somethinghe had thought possible turned out not to be, I believed him. Having beena student of diplomacy throughout my career and a practitioner for eightyears, I found him, in this regard, to be a rarity.
I also found him to be someone of unusual intellectual breadth anddepth. Disagreeing with him was (as he liked to put it) not a disagreeableexperience. It was, moreover, often an edifying one for me. I came tounderstand much that I had not known about Indian history and the lingeringeffect of British rule; the complexity of Indian society, culture, andreligion; the ins and outs of Indian politics; and, crucially, Indians’ adamancyabout their sovereignty.
Mr. Singh and I spent considerable time talking about Hindutva, avision of national identity associated with his party. He and other spokesmenfor the BJP object when Indian and foreign political observersdescribe its program as “Hindu nationalist.” The concept, they say, is culturalrather than religious, and the term should be understood to embraceMuslims and followers of other faiths. The fact remains, however, that theBJP has included—and not just on its fringes—sectarian zealots who havebeen implicated in incidents of communal violence. The party evolvedfrom the political wing of the RSS, an organization that rejected root andbranch Mohandas Gandhi’s concept of nationhood based on diversity as avirtue of Indian society and inclusiveness as a necessity of Indian politics.I listened carefully to Mr. Singh’s explanation of what he called the “civilizational”nature of his party’s ideology and, as he saw it, his country’s senseof its role in the world. I did so not just because of the sophistication of hisargument, but because I knew that he had publicly—and with a bluntnessthat showed real political courage—deplored the RSS-backed and oftenRSS-instigated practice of tearing down mosques and burning churches.(“I believe,” he had said, “that this country cannot be constructed throughdemolitions.”)
Partly because of his outspokenness as an internationalist who believedthat globalization could work to India’s advantage and as a moderate ondomestic policy, he was regarded with some suspicion by the more extremeelements associated with his party. I bore this fact in mind when he haddifficulty in Parliament, in the council of the governing alliance, and inthe arena of public opinion.
Another quality manifest in this book is Mr. Singh’s facility with words.The reader will miss the full effect of his personal s