Strategist and towering diplomat Dixit dies at 69

Describing Dixit as a ‘‘wise strategist’’, the Prime Minister said he would miss him in the PMO. ‘‘His death is a personal loss to me,’’ he said adding, ‘‘I greatly valued his wisdom, knowledge and experience.’’

Dixit suffered a heart attack at his home in the early hours of Monday. He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where he was declared dead on arrival. As family members and a host of visitors from across several fields poured in, it was decided that the funeral would be held here on Wednesday.

President A P J Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Shivraj Patil were among those who visited his house to offer their condolences.

Several foreign diplomats including US Ambassador to India David Mulford expressed grief over his death. Later in the day, US Secretary of State Colin Powell called up External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh from Bangkok to express his condolences.

Known as ‘Mani’ among friends and colleagues, Dixit, a former columnist of The Indian Express, was a distinguished diplomat who appeared well set in an important second innings of his career after having served as Foreign Secretary in the early 1990s. He brought with him immense experience, particularly in the neighbourhood.

In fact, he was India’s first High Commissioner to Bangladesh after the 1971 war and held the same post in Sri Lanka when the Rajiv Gandhi government decided to send in the Indian Peace Keeping Force. He also served as India’s envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

As NSA, a position with the same rank of a Minister of State but in many ways far more important, Dixit was officially designated as interlocutor for the talks to resolve the boundary dispute with China and had just concluded a fairly successful round in November. And quietly, he was also playing a crucial role in the India-Pakistan peace process through his back-channel diplomacy with his Pakistani counterpart Tariq Aziz.

This apart, Dixit had been in constant touch with his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice and played an important role in taking forward discussions on the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership.

Former Prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in whose government Dixit was appointed member of the first National Security Advisory Board constituted after the Pokharan tests, and Leader of Opposition L K Advani also paid their tributes.

His death has removed an important player in the PMO. As Special Advisor to PM M K Narayanan himself admitted that he along with Dixit and Principal Secretary to PM T K A Nair formed the ‘‘troika’’ responsible for carrying out the daily tasks of the PMO.

‘‘Of the three, Dixit probably had the most difficult job as he was to deal with the outside world and he was of great help to the Prime Minister in this task. I think it will be very difficult to replace Dixit,’’ said Narayanan.

But a search for a replacement will have to be carried out. And much as it was a day of grief, several names had begun to do the rounds like Satish Lambah, the convenor of the NSAB. From the foreign secretaries pool, the choices are Salman Haider from 1960 batch and K. Raghunath from the 1962 batch apart from Muchkund Dubey and Lalit Man Singh. But it is still early days, add sources.

Apart from being well-versed in his task as a diplomat, Dixit had a good grasp over issues such as terrorism in India, the Jammu and Kashmir problem and outfits such as the LTTE. According to the several diplomats who visited his residence today, Dixit was one person who was never ready to compromise on core security interests of the country.

Dixit led a very hectic life even after his retirement from the foreign service. He joined the Congress Party’s foreign cell after his stint with the NSAB and wrote books on the side, building strong contacts at various levels. He also wrote regularly for this newspaper.

Dixit, who was born to Malayali parents, came from a modest background, studied at Harcourt Butler School in Delhi, graduated from Delhi College in Ajmeri Gate and studied international relations at the School of International Studies before it became part of Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was deeply inspired by his mother Ratnamayi Devi, a freedom fighter.