A dinner here, a dinner there

There have been ups and downs as far as the prime minister’s health isconcerned. I can testify as a witness on two of his visits when he wastotally in command his attendance at the UN General Assembly in September1998 and his bus journey to Lahore in February 1999. At New York he hadenergetically defied his officials and announced the journey to Lahore. InLahore, he made history at the Minar-e-Pakistan and that banquet at theLahore Fort.

But even so, it has been common knowledge that in recent months he has notbeen in the pink of health. His appearances at two Independence Dayfunctions were accompanied by minor mishaps in full public view, recorded byTV cameras. His cabinet colleagues have not been altogether sanguine abouthis performance at cabinet meetings. Even though his press managers wereable to coax sound bytes out of him by contriving cunning mediaopportunities, he disappointed journalists by avoiding extensive TVinterviews. The great communicator was avoiding the media custom made forhim when he was at his best. The political scene was itself somewhat insipidbecause while he, by and large, made himself unavailable for TV interviews,leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi was found to be totally incapable ofinterviews (or anything else which required engaging the mind).

Whatever his physician’s advice, why was an ambitious 12-day itineraryinitially outlined? This is the question being asked by the influentialIndian community in the Silicon valley for instance, and US think tankselsewhere focused on India. It would have been slightly more decorous, theyargue, if a destination in Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, anywhere,had been added to his itinerary, however briefly. A brief stay enhances thequality of hospitality. Now the itinerary has been abridged but merely bytwo days. And yet all those events have been removed from the primeminister’s schedule which would have attracted some notice in the US.

Dean Rusk, President Kennedy’s secretary of state who in the late seventieshad retired as Professor of Law at the University of Athens in Georgia, oncecomplained to this reporter that Indians had never made any effort at publicrelations in the US. "The only effort at attracting the attention of theAmerican people was made by Vijayalaxmi Pandit when she was ambassador toWashington" Rusk said. "She gifted an elephant to the Washington zoo".Just imagine an elephant travelling by ship, being brought on shore bycranes, swaying its way to the zoo. The American media was wild withexcitement. "The photographs and the story remained on the front pages ofnewspapers for days." Rusk laughed. "Nothing like it has been attempted bythe Indians since."

Well, believe it or not, the prime minister’s address at the banquet thatwas being jointly organised by Stanford university and TIE (The IndusEntrepreneurs), the powerful body of Indian information technology giants inthe Silicon valley, was expected to be the highest profile India-relatedevent in the US media in recent years. Such is the clout of Indians in thispart of California. Oh, the personal interest the President of Stanford wastaking in the event. The organisers at TIE had done some research on theprime minister’s palate and arranged for the rarest prawns from heavenknowswhere!

Even the White House was keen on developing the emergence of Indians, themost rapidly advancing economic group in the US, as a durable bridge betweenthe two countries.

Surely UN General Assembly sessions will take place each year but the Indianprime minister in the Silicon valley would have been an exceptional storywith a romance all its own. In any case all bilateral meetings at the UN(expect with Bangladesh and Nepal) had been cancelled. Indeed, UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan under pressure to make time for each one of the UN memberstates had placed Vajpayee on his list of dignitaries. The Indian sidecancelled the meeting. Likewise, meetings with Tony Blair and others werecancelled.

Since most worthwhile meetings on the margins of the UN meet were cancelled,why were officials persisting with the prime minister’s attendance at theMillennium Summit? There was understandable speculation that, at Americanbehest, a surprise meeting with Gen Pervez Musharraf may be on the cards.Otherwise, why would the prime minister bust his guts for a brief address tothe UNGA? But this line of speculation was severely discouraged by officials.The prime minister would arrive in the evening of September 7, to be able toaddress the UN on September 8. This meant cancellation of the Asia societydinner on September 7. But clearly someone with clout was pulling strings onbehalf of the Asia society. Lo and behold the prime minister’s arrival inNew York was advanced so as to enable him to attend the Asia Society dinner- the one which had earlier been cancelled. Clearly Stanford University andSilicon Valley do not yet have that kind of pull in New Delhi.

After September 9, when he attends some Swadeshi events in New York, thereis a gap in the prime minister’s calendar until he arrives in Washington onSeptember 13. This gap, by all accounts, will be filled up by Vajpayee’spersonal physician who is probably liaising with Sloane Kettering or theNaval hospital in Beth Seda for medical check ups. Since no one isfurnishing any information, this too is purely speculative.

The media managers have quite a chore on their hands. The ministry ofexternal affairs has asked for 15 invitations for journalists to attend theWhite House banquet. Apparently, black tie or Jodhpur band gala is the form.If journalists worthy of the banquet have not yet been identified how willthey have time to make last minute additions to their wardrobe before thePM’s special flight takes off from New Delhi?