Considered the frontrunner in the race to become foreign secretary, Rao received a call in Beijing on Tuesday evening from Shivshankar Menon (she takes over the baton from him on August 1), conveying to her the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Appointments. "I’m delighted and very happy with the news of my appointment as foreign secretary," Rao, 58, told Outlook from Beijing. "I’m also aware of the complexities and the challenges that come with this important job." For the moment, though, Rao won’t have the time to think of her new challenges, busy as she will be, as she says, in "winding up and making my farewell calls".
Apart from being an excellent officer who’s handled a wide array of assignments (she has served in the United States, Russia and handled administration), Rao pipped others to the post, to some extent, because of her tenure in China. Just about all those who matter in the upa—Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Pranab Mukherjee—have been to Beijing under her watch and have returned suitably impressed. Another feather in her Beijing cap was that China emerged as India’s largest trading partner during her tenure.
So it’s no wonder that the decision to elevate Rao wasn’t accompanied by what had become a ubiquitous feature of such appointments—a lot of heartburn and bitching. Former diplomat Shyamla Kaushik says "she’s an excellent choice. I’m happy not because she’s a woman, but because she’s a very good officer." A senior MEA official describes her as the "total package", saying she’s a charming lady who’s tough in negotiations. "Those who make the mistake of thinking that it will be a smooth ride will soon realise that when it comes to India’s core interests, she can be a very, very tough negotiator," the official says.
It’s said the government also plumped for Rao because of the need to correct the perception that women diplomats are largely ignored for senior posts. One of them, Veena Sikri, had raised serious questions about the government’s decision to overlook her in appointing Shivshankar Menon as foreign secretary. The government has also managed the course correction without ignoring an IFS batch and its topper—Rao was the top ranker of the 1973 batch, the senior-most batch after Menon’s retirement.
Rao has seen through some tough times, deftly taking criticism in her stride. When the Vajpayee-Musharraf talks collapsed in Agra in July 2000, Rao as spokesperson was mobbed by hostile Indian and Pakistani journalists, livid at the government’s decision not to hold a formal press conference. Though taken aback by the reaction, an unflappable Rao carried out the government’s brief. Again, she calmly tackled the tricky situation arising from the Chinese foreign office’s decision to wake her up at 2 am, to lodge a protest against Tibetan demonstrators scaling the walls of the Chinese embassy in Delhi. Says an Indian diplomat, "She was hosting a reception at the Indian embassy next day. But she played the role of perfect hostess so well that no one could have made out that she had not slept the night before."
Diplomacy apart, Rao is also wellknown for her passion for music and art. "Even as an IFS probationer in Mussoorie for training, I carried my guitar with me," recalls Rao. Though a competent jazz and blues singer, she has held only one public performance, in Delhi in May 2003. "Since then I have sung only among a close group of friends," she says. A poet, her book, Rain Rising, has been published in India, Sri Lanka and translated into Chinese. And though she hasn’t had time over the last six years to write, she reads voraciously, her collection on China and Central Asia is rated among the best. In recognition of her multifarious talents, Rao was even invited by Filmfare magazine to its 2008 awards ceremony. She presented the critics’ award to Darsheel Safary for Taare Zameen Par. The world will now be her stage till December 2010, when she’s due to retire.
