Opinion A diplomat without peer
Shilendra Kumar Singh (or SK,as he was universally known) was perhaps the Indian Foreign Services most adept practitioner of the interface between politics and diplomacy.
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Shilendra Kumar Singh (or SK,as he was universally known) was perhaps the Indian Foreign Services most adept practitioner of the interface between politics and diplomacy. As a diplomat he was without peer,a voracious reader,a clear and concise writer with an incredibly neat hand,an excellent public speaker and an utterly charming conversationalist. Behind the friendly exterior lay a razor-sharp mind,a steely determination and a healthy scepticism which prevented him from falling for all that he was told. He buzzed at all the flowers in the garden but picked only the honey that he chose.
His experience ranged across most of the key dimensions of Indian foreign policy. Beginning as a Persian-language student,his first posting in Tehran took him as the consular officer on adventurous voyages to Gulf ports which have since become magic names for untold prosperity but were then no more than havens for the dhows,where young boys dived for pearls and camel caravans stretched into the desert. He then had a stint at the United Nations in New York in the heyday of Indias involvement with the UN and the early years of the Non-Aligned Movement. With India leading the decolonisation crusade and drumming up adherents by the day to the Non-Aligned Movement,Indian influence on world affairs was at its peak and our reputation for knowing our own mind and speaking it was at its height. Later,he was ambassador to a series of hotspots: Lebanon,as the PLO was being pushed out; Afghanistan,as the Soviet Union allowed itself to be pushed into a foolhardy invasion which eventually brought the Communist house of cards tumbling down; Pakistan,as it made its transition from Zia to Benazir Mark I; and then foreign secretary till he was prematurely ousted in a shameful coup by the V.P. Singh establishment and their IFS mercenaries.
But perhaps his highest point was as director,external publicity and South Block spokesman during the first few years of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Minister of External Affairs,Dinesh Singh. That was when SK came into his own as a master player in the interface between politics and diplomacy. His contacts ranged across the political spectrum and he proved his mettle as an able communicator to members of Parliament and the media. It made his influence in the foreign office quite disproportionate to his relatively humble position in the foreign service hierarchy,but because he knew how to walk among kings,nor lose the common touch whatever the grumblings of MEA mandarins it was he who managed what initially appeared to be the public relations disaster of our ambassador to Rabat turning up as the only ever non-Muslim representative to the Islamic Conference and India then being rusticated from the Conference largely because communal riots broke out in Bhiwandi just as the conference was getting underway. There was a howl of public protest at India getting itself into this pickle but SK played his full role in restoring equilibrium.
After a long period in the shadows through most of the nineties,SK re-emerged in public office as Governor of Arunachal Pradesh and later as Governor of Rajasthan. For swinging the Arunachal administration around from lining pockets to people-oriented governance,SK will one day get appropriate credit. But as his role was constitutional,much of his contribution was out of the public eye. As we secure that sensitive border state,the people of the state and of India as a whole will have much to thank him for.
Like all who hold public office,SK had his share of detractors,especially as he handled matters of administration at headquarters. So those who got from him what they wanted quickly forgot their gratitude and those who did not carried their grievances to the grave. But that is life.
SK leaves behind his gracious lady,Manju,and two bright sons of whom we will hear much in the future,Shashank,an investment banker,and Kanishka,aide to Rahul Gandhi. They,I am sure,will carry the SK tradition of courtesy combined with competence very far forward.
Just a month ago,I lost another valued colleague,Gopi Arora. Now SK:Tis all a chequer board of Nights and Days
Where Destiny with men for pieces plays
Hither and thither moves and mates and slays
Then one by one back in the Closet lays.
Goodbye,my friend.
The writer is a former Union minister,Congress MP and foreign service officer
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