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The Bluest Eye Rules

MEA seniors resent S. Jaishankar’s ways

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The Bluest Eye Rules
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Foreign secretary Subramanyam Jaishankar’s growing clout with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is creating serious disquiet among other secretaries and senior diplomats in South Block.

Handpicked by Modi on the eve of his retirement, Jaishankar is now said to be using his growing closeness with the PM to ‘pick and choose’ areas that would allow him to maintain a high profile. Much of this, it is alleged, is naturally happening at the cost of senior colleagues in the ministry of external affairs, particularly the three other secretaries, all of whom are now looking for an opportunity to be posted out of headquarters.

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Apart from the foreign secretary, the MEA top brass comprises three other secretaries—secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa, secretary (West) Navtej Singh Sarna and secretary (Economic Relations) Sujata Mehta.

“All secretaries are equal. The foreign secretary is only first among equals,” observes Vivek Katju, himelf a reti­red MEA secretary.

Jaishankar’s appointment at the end of January had created a stir—it had forced the then foreign secretary, Sujatha Singh, to leave with nearly five months left in her two-year tenure.

At her farewell, Sujatha had made her displeasure against both the PM and Jaishankar known, indicating her successor’s penchant for self-promotion at the cost of the MEA.

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Despite this, few in the MEA dispute Jaishankar’s brilliance as a diplomat. Support and admiration for him among mid-ranking and junior MEA officers rem­ain ever-expanding; many are ope­nly enthusiastic about working under his leadership. The problem with his style of functioning remains among a section of senior-most diplomats and the top half of the ministry. Many cite occasions in the past few months where Jaishankar had been encroaching on areas that are handled by other secretaries.

“Jaishankar should not misuse his personal chemistry and closeness with the prime minister to enhance his own image,” advises a retired diplomat who refuses to be named.

Traditionally, two secretaries of the MEA never travelled together with the prime minister. “But Jaishankar is now travelling everywhere with Modi,” says a senior diplomat.

The problem with this growing trend is that it reduces the importance of other senior MEA diplomats. “Irrespe­ctive of whether the foreign secretary is taking an active role in the negotiations or not, by virtue of being the number one officer his presence invariably pushes others to the background,” explains an official.

Katju suggests that the MEA should have areas formally allocated among the secretaries to ensure the foreign secretary cannot tinker with them acc­ording to his “whims and fancies”.

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But N. Ravi, another retired secretary, argues that though areas can be allocated among the four secretaries, certain situations demand the foreign secretary’s intervention. “Depending on...the situation, the foreign secretary in consultation with the concerned secretary can take decisions on overlapping issues to brief the prime minister and decide on policy,” he says.

The encroachment on to their turf could be a grouse among secretaries that is forcing them to leave HQ. But an important reason can be that many of them were also in the running for the foreign secretary’s post. Jaishankar’s unexpected appointment upset their calculation and, in the absence of a better career move, they are now even willing to be posted out.

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But even for that to happen, these senior diplomats will have to wait till the end of the year, when many important posts would fall vacant. Among the coveted posts that many are eyeing are India’s permanent member at the UN in New York as well as ambassadorship in Moscow, China and Japan. The Indian high commissioner’s post in London would also fall vacant around this time, but few among the top Indian diplomats are keen to go there. “Despite the hype about London, it has now been reduced to a liaison office where the high commissioner spends more time at the airport either receiving or seeing off VIPs,” says a MEA official.

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Sceptics point out that even after the end of his two-year tenure, there is no guarantee that Jaishankar would stop playing a role in India’s foreign policy. “Unless his stocks fall drastically, do not be surprised if he continues to play a key role in advising Modi on foreign policy issues,” predicts an experienced Indian diplomat.

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