When the tsunami hit India on December 26, 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singhjust a few months into his tenure, he faced not only a grave national tragedy but also a moment when India would be tested internationally. In contrast to his calm demeanor, Dr. Singh, that one died on the same day 20 years latermade several bold decisions in the hours that followed, officials who served with him say.
The first was that India would not accept aid from abroad and would manage the crisis internally. The second was that India would help others affected by the gigantic waves that killed more than 2,30,000 people across the Indian Ocean. Within hours, the government approved naval and air force missions to Indonesia, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, with a total of 32 Indian ships and 5,500 troops joining the international effort, heralding India’s arrival on the world stage as a humanitarian aid and disaster relief. (HADR) first responder. The third decision was to coordinate regularly with others involved in the effort, especially the US, Japan and Australia, in meetings leading to the formation of the Quad.
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Within a year, the government of Dr. However, Singh was hit by a political tsunami, also of international proportions, when his Foreign Minister, Natwar Singh, had to resign over the Volcker oil-for-food bribery scandal. He replaced him with his most senior colleague Pranab Mukherjee, and later with SM Krishna, but Dr. Singh never really relinquished control of Indian foreign policy, and his stamp on every foray was unmistakable. Journalists who spoke to him were always impressed by how closely he followed all international events, and he regularly invited those traveling to one interesting country or another to his 7 Race Course Road for a cup of tea and serious conversation.
Although he was sometimes criticized by the opposition for being that way “maun” Whether he was silent, Dr. Singh was a prolific communicator when it came to his foreign policy. He made it a point to talk at least once to the journalists who traveled with him, unofficially, on his way to any country. On the way back he almost always held a press conference on board, in which he answered questions about the visit, but also about other issues of the moment. At the book launch of his speeches in 2018, Dr. Singh to this practice and defended himself against the accusation that he had not engaged the media. “I was certainly not a prime minister who was afraid to talk to the press,” he said emphatically.
Two policy breakthroughs
The involvement with the Quad, while short-lived until it was revived in 2017, also paved the way for two of Dr. Singh’s biggest foreign policy breakthroughs: working with Japan to end India’s isolation after the 1998 nuclear tests. He started a new chapter with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who appointed Dr. Singh his “mentor or guru”. The other was the agreement with the United States for the civil nuclear deal. Without agreeing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Dr. Singh in obtaining waivers from the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which also paved the way for India and the US to cooperate in a number of areas, and India’s access to nuclear energy. The personal ties of Dr. Singh with US President George W. Bush, to whom he controversially told in 2008, “The people of India love you very much,” and with his successor, President Barack Obama, who has often spoken of his admiration for the intellect of Dr. Singh and wisdom were an important part of the relationship.
In this November 8, 2010 file image, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greet each other after a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. | Photo credit: PTI
Shyam Saran, former Foreign Minister and Special Envoy of Dr. Singh for climate change, talks about how deeply the Prime Minister was involved in the progress of the negotiations. For example, when discussions about nuclear fuel “reprocessing rights” hit a wall, Dr. Singh addressed President Bush directly with the issue on the sidelines of a multilateral summit. In short order, Mr. Bush instructed his officials to “make it happen.”
In an interview with The HinduWhen former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died, Dr. Singh at an even-handed moment – now quite rare in Indian politics – that he had followed a path shown by Mr Vajpayee in two areas. “In relations with the United States and ties with Pakistan, I have followed more or less the same line that Mr Vajpayee had followed,” he said, adding: “I think that relations in our neighboring countries, and that are also important for China. for India to realize its chosen destiny.”
On Saturday, September 16, 2006 file image, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf after a bilateral meeting during the 14th Non-Aligned Summit in Havana, Cuba. | Photo credit: PTI
Although American involvement earned Dr. Singh accolades, outreach to Pakistan often ended in frustration. From the very beginning as Prime Minister, he picked up the 2003 Vajpayee-Musharraf dialogue, appointing veteran diplomat Satinder Lambah as his envoy for back-channel dialogues with Pakistan on a peace treaty plan and resolution of the Jammu issue and Kashmir. As Mr Lambah records in his book In pursuit of peace, Dr. Singh was clear about the parameters of the agreements – that they would involve “making borders irrelevant” without any territorial implications.
In another interview with this reporter, just before the 2009 elections, he candidly admitted that the 2008 Mumbai attacks had undermined all plans for peace with Pakistan. However, he did not believe there was any choice but to continue trying to contact the neighbor. Ten years later, Dr. Singh was sharply criticized for not launching attacks on Pakistan in retaliation for the terror attacks, with a clear trail to his intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
However, as Shiv Shankar Menon writes in his memoirs Choicesit was a decision he may not have agreed with, but which was an international reward for India’s restraint. The accountability process that began then continues, but in the years following 2008 the government was able to successfully pursue the case for imposing sanctions on Pakistan under the Financial Action Task Force, and countries such as the US and persuade Britain to step up their efforts. pressure from Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups. India’s international coming of age, in a sense, took place in 2010, when Dr. Singh received the leaders of all permanent members of the UN Security Council in Delhi.
In this December 31, 2007 photo, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with Russian President Vladimir Putin upon his arrival at Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi | Photo credit: PTI
Despite the ongoing problems with Pakistan, Dr. Singh tried to reach out to the leaders, meeting Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In his drawing room at Motilal Nehru Marg in Delhi, he pointed to a painting – of his native village in Pakistan – that President Pervez Musharraf had gifted him, and exchanged with him a photo of Musharraf’s ancestral home in Daryaganj, the ‘Neher wali Haveli”. Although it was clear to him that he would never be able to travel to Pakistan as Prime Minister before the terrorism policy changed, Dr. Singh gave himself a brief look of regret as he spoke of his desire to visit his home across the border just once.
Published – 27 Dec 2024 01:38 IST