Gujral appointee Haidar8217;s resignation accepted

NEW DELHI, June 30: Former foreign secretary Salman Haidar's resignation as high commissioner to Great Britain is believed to have been acce...

NEW DELHI, June 30: Former foreign secretary Salman Haidar8217;s resignation as high commissioner to Great Britain is believed to have been accepted, making him the first of I K Gujral8217;s appointees abroad to be recalled.

Haidar, along with S D Muni, India8217;s ambassador to Laos, were the only two out of Gujral8217;s four nominees abroad who handed in their papers after the BJP Government came to power in March. Both were told to stay put in their posts, until about a month ago when Haidar8217;s resignation is believed to have been suddenly accepted.

Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, in his earlier incarnation as the convenor of the BJP8217;s external affairs cell, had said while the government was being sworn in, that all of Gujral8217;s political appointees would be axed if their agreements8217; diplomatese for acceptance by the country in question came after the Gujral government lost its majority. Haidar, L C Jain in South Africa and Akali leader Jaspal Singh sent to Mozambique, were all sent after the Gujralgovernment lost the confidence of the House in early December, making all of them candidates for recall. But all their agreements8217; on the Indian side were signed by the President much before the government fell. Only S D Muni narrowly missed that benchmark on both counts.

The timing and motive about Haidar8217;s imminent return has now led to considerable speculation in the ministry of external affairs about his successor.

One view is that New Delhi is considerably upset with London8217;s tough position vis-a-vis Kashmir in the post-Pokhran situation, labelling it the 8220;root cause of the tension8221; between India and Pakistan.

According to this argument, the ministry is showing its 8220;displeasure8221; against London by recalling its high commissioner.

It is believed, however, that the real reason for the belated acceptance of the resignation is that since London is a coveted post, Haidar is being moved out to make way for someone of the government8217;s own choice. Two prominent names doing the rounds are the currentforeign secretary K. Raghunath who is due to retire in November and Lalit Mansingh, at present secretary West in the ministry.

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It appears that the government has taken the decision in principle to make Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, currently India8217;s ambassador in Brussels, Raghunath8217;s successor. Though he is seniormost in the hierarchy, he has not held any administrative position in Delhi in the last few years, a normal requisite for a foreign secretary.

Daasgupta, who moved to Brussels from China, would have actually retired at the end of June even before Raghunath currently on extension gives over in November. But the luck of the draw seems to have favoured him, and the decision by the Pay Panel to give two years to all government servants has breathed life into his chances of becoming foreign secretary.