'Ever Alert And Sensitive'

I have had the privilege of having known Shankar Dayal Sharma for nearly 25 years. I first met him in 1972 when I was India's deputy high commissioner in Bangladesh. He came to Bangladesh as Congress president, along with Chand-rajit Yadav. The visit was aimed at establishing intra-party contacts between the ruling Awami League and the Congress. His sense of history and capacity for political realism were revealed to me in a meeting I had with him before his return to Delhi. Dr Sharma had met leaders of the Awami League as well as some other political parties. He had also met Mujibur Rehman.

Advising me on how to deal with Bangladesh, Dr Sharma asked me to keep two things in mind. First, that we must not expect any gratitude or long-term emotional reciprocity from the Bangladeshis for the support which we gave them in their freedom struggle. He asked me to remember always that whatever India did for Bangladesh was equally in India's interest. Second, he asked me to keep in mind that Mujibur Rehman was one of the most active Muslim leaders advocating Partition in pre-Independence India. He said that subcontinental politics since the late 19th century has always been charac-terised by tactical opportunism. He cautioned me that we must guard against Mujibur Rehman using India as a means for his political survival. This was just about six to eight months after the liberation of Bangladesh. Later trends in Indo-Bangladesh relations have shown how alert and sensitive Sharma's antennae were .

I met him again 11 years later in 1983 in Kabul where I was ambassador. He and the present Minister of State for Internal Security, Syed Sibte Razi, were visiting Afghanistan on a fact-finding mission on behalf of Indira Gandhi. He met President Karmal, Prime Minister Kishtmand and the politburo of the ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan. One aspect of his conversation with members of the Afghan ruling party stands out in my memory. He told them at a formal session that while India was fully supportive of the secular and revolutionary ideology of the government of Afghanistan, India was convinced that the revolutionary effort would remain flawed as long as it was propped up by a foreign military power, even if that military power happened to be a friendly country like the Soviet Union. He told me later that he did not expect the Karmal regime to last, unless he started disengaging himself from the Soviets. No comments are called for regarding his perception and capacity for political judgement.

I came in contact with him with greater frequency during my tenure as foreign secretary. He was the vice-president till the summer of 1992 and became president from July 1992 onwards. These contacts were a political education. Sharma is clear in his mind that the President is not just a constitutional and ceremonial figurehead. He takes his role as Head of State seriously. Though his political career may indicate him to be a shrewd judge of trends at the party as well as national levels—and though his career graph leads one to the conclusion that he is a political survivor par excellence—as vice-president and president he has systematically endeavored to project himself as a person above the intrigues of national politics.

Unlike most senior politicians, he is serious about his work. He always insisted on written briefs from the Ministry of External Affairs prior to receiving any foreign delegation. He invariably told me that the joint secretary dealing with the area should come with me and meet him for half an hour before receiving any foreign delegation. One usually found that he had done some additional reading on the country.

Despite his age and a busy schedule, his discussions were always well informed. I recall being present during his meetings with President Rafsanjani of Iran and Premier Li Peng of China. After charming Rafsanjani with recitations in Persian from Sadi and Firdausi, he cautioned the Iranian president against falling P prey to Pakistani propaganda on Kashmir. With Li Peng, he stressed that substantive aspects of the boundary issue can be shelved temporarily, but cannot be wished away.

Sharma is a stickler for decorum and protocol. He was insistent that the foreign secretary should always be in attendance if he was having a discussion with any foreign governmental representative. He was also strict in the stipulation that foreign guests being accommodated at Rashtrapati Bhavan should be allowed only on his personal clearance. There was an occasion when our then chief of protocol and then military secretary to the President between themselves decided to accommodate a foreign dignitary at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Sharma came to know of this through the files. I was called in and asked whether the Ministry of External Affairs was taking on the authority of dispensing hospitality at Rashtrapati Bhavan. I did not know the details, but after making enquiries, I called on him and accepted responsibility for the breach of procedure. He accepted my apology and allowed the guest to stay at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Whatever Sharma's past governmental achievements might have been, whatever role he might have played as a party politician, he has a certain Edwardian elegance, and is endowed with political shrewdness which is accentuated by half a century of political experience. His political instincts and inclinations are tempered by his professional background as a lawyer and as a constitutional expert. His personal motivations and prejudices are balanced by his qualities as a scholar and an academic. Over and above all, at this stage when he is in a politically and constitutionally pre-eminent position, he has also achieved a capacity for detachment based on his interest in philosophy and matters spiritual.

The manner in which he handles the sensitive and volatile predicament in the post-election situation will be a litmus test of his statesmanship. While Sharma is undoubtedly a "constitutional king", the question is would he also achieve the status of a dispassionate and detached philosopher king? The people of India wait to deliver their judgement.