When the tsunami hit India on December 26, 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, then just a few months at the helm, faced not only a grave national tragedy, but also a moment where India would be tested internationally. Contrary to his quiet demeanour, Dr. Singh, who died on the same day 20 years later, made several bold decisions in the hours that followed, recount officials who served with him.
The first was that India would not accept aid from abroad and would manage the crisis internally. The second, that India would help others who had been hit by the giant waves that took more than 2,30,000 lives across the Indian Ocean. Within hours, the government cleared 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, which announced India’s arrival on the global scene as a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) first responder. The third decision was to coordinate regularly with others involved in the effort, most notably the U.S., Japan and Australia, in meetings that led to the formation of the Quad.
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Within a year, however, Dr. Singh’s government was hit by a political tsunami, also of international proportions, as his External Affairs 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 S.M. Krishna, but Dr. Singh never really gave up control of Indian foreign policy, and his imprint on each foray was unmistakeable. Journalists who spoke to him were always struck by how closely he followed all international events, and he would frequently invite those who travelled to one country or another of interest to his 7 Race Course Road for a cup of tea and a serious chat.
Although he was sometimes criticised by the Opposition for being “maun” or silent, Dr. Singh was a prolific communicator when it came to his foreign policy. He made a point of speaking to the journalists who travelled with him, off the record, at least once on his way to any country. On his way back, he almost always held a press conference on board, answering questions about the visit, and also on other issues of the moment. At a book launch of his speeches in 2018, Dr. Singh referred to this practice, defending himself against the charge that he didn’t engage the media. “I certainly was not a Prime Minister who was afraid of talking to the press,” he said, pointedly.
Two policy breakthroughs
The engagement with the Quad, though short-lived until it was revived in 2017, also laid the path for two of Dr. Singh’s biggest foreign policy breakthroughs: with Japan, that ended India’s isolation over the nuclear tests of 1998. He began a new chapter along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who referred to Dr. Singh as his “mentor or guru”. The other was the engagement with the United States for the civil nuclear deal. Without agreeing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Dr. Singh’s team of negotiators were able to win waivers at the Nuclear Suppliers Group that also opened up the path for India and the U.S. to collaborate together in a number of areas, and freed up India’s access to nuclear energy. Dr. Singh’s personal ties with U.S. President George W. Bush, whom he controversially told in 2008, “The people of India deeply love you”, and with his successor President Barack Obama, who has often spoke of his admiration for Dr. Singh’s intellect and wisdom, were a key part of the relationship.
In this November 8, 2010 file image, US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greet each other after addressing a joint press conference at Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Former Foreign Secretary and Dr. Singh’s special envoy on climate change Shyam Saran recounts how deeply the Prime Minister involved himself in the progress of negotiations. When talks hit a wall over nuclear fuel “reprocessing rights” for example, Dr. Singh went directly up to President Bush with the problem on the sidelines of a multilateral summit. Within no time, Mr. Bush directed his officials to “make it happen”.
In an interview to The Hinduwhen former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee died, Dr. Singh said in a non-partisan 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 took more or less the same line as Mr. Vajpayee had taken,” he said, adding, “I think that relations in our neighbourhood, and that includes China, are important for India to realise its chosen destiny.”
n this Saturday, September 16, 2006 file image, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf after a bilateral meeting during the 14th Nonaligned Summit in Havana, Cuba.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
However, while the U.S engagement brought Dr. Singh accolades, the outreaches to Pakistan frequently 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 plan for a peace treaty and the resolution of Jammu and Kashmir issue. As Mr. Lambah records in his book In Pursuit of Peace, Dr. Singh was clear about the parameters of the agreements – that these would involve “making borders irrelevant” without any territorial consequences.
In another interview to this reporter just before the 2009 elections, he admitted candidly that the 2008 Mumbai attacks had put paid to any plans for peace with Pakistan. However, he did not believe there was a choice but to continue to try and engage with the neighbour. A decade later, Dr. Singh was sharply criticised for not carrying out strikes on Pakistan in retaliation for the terror attacks with a clear trail to its intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
However, as Shiv Shankar Menon writes in his memoir Choices, it was a decision that he may not have agreed with himself, but that paid in terms of appreciation internationally for India’s restraint. The process that began then for accountability still continues, but in the years that followed 2008, the government was able to successfully pursue the case for sanctioning Pakistan under the Financial Action Task Force, and prevail on countries like the U.S. and the U.K. to step up pressure for action against terror groups by Pakistan. India’s coming of age internationally, in one sense, came in 2010, when Dr. Singh hosted the leaders of every UN Security Council permanent member in Delhi.
In this Dec. 31, 2007 photo, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with Russian president Vladimir Putin on his arrival at Air Force Station Palam in New Delhi
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Despite the continuing trouble with Pakistan, Dr. Singh continued to try and engage with its leaders, meeting Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, and then PM Nawaz Sharif. In his drawing room at Motilal Nehru Marg in Delhi, he would point to a painting – of his native village in Pakistan – that President Pervez Musharraf had gifted him, and he had exchanged with him a photograph of Musharraf’s family home in Daryaganj, the “Neher wali Haveli”. While he was clear that he could never travel to Pakistan as PM until its policy on terrorism changed, Dr. Singh did allow himself a brief look of regret, as he spoke of his desire to visit his home across the border just once.
Published – December 27, 2024 01:38 am IST