It was the Prime Minister’s banquet in honour of Nelson Mandela in March 1997, at New Delhi’s grand Hyderabad House. He had come to sign the Red Fort Declaration on a Strategic Partnership between the two countries. The Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, was escorting Mandela along the row of Indian guests, introducing each one to the South African President. When he reached me, he mumbled something, as if half-asleep. “He was in your country recently,” or words to that effect.