Deconstructing a demarche

What's in a demarche? That French word, diplomatese for an initiative taken by one country to another, has become so loaded in the background of the MEA’s tongue-lashing to the European Union for reportedly leaking its stories to the media here on Gujarat, it has received a real beating. The MEA has denied the fact that there was a ‘‘demarche’’ to India last week, only calling it ‘‘consultations,’’ while Spanish ambassador to India Alberto Escudero refused to describe the meeting in any way. Only, that India’s ambassador to Spain Dilip Lahiri was ‘‘made acquainted’’ with the EU position on Gujarat on April 23.

Truth is, Lahiri was formally called in by the director-general of Asian affairs in the Spanish foreign office in Madrid Rafael Conde (Spain currently holds the EU presidency) and told about the EU’s concerns on Gujarat. It was a verbal encounter, no piece of paper was handed out. Which is why all sides have been able to avail themselves of a certain deniability on the issue. But why was Lahiri summoned in Madrid, why didn’t the EU tell the MEA in Delhi? Seems the EU has been a divided house on how to deal with Gujarat ever since reports on the massacres began to appear here. The latest difference turns around the word ‘‘demarche.’’ Some diplomats here insist that Lahiri was delivered one, since the April 23 meeting did not entail an exchange of opinion between the two sides. Others point out that no such thing happened.

Singhvi sees red, red faces all around

Should former high commissioners know better? Considering that one of them, presidential hopeful L M Singhvi, is also the chairman of the high-level committee on the Indian diaspora, the answer must be a resounding yes. The committee has travelled across most of the world in the last couple of years, collecting data on the Indian diaspora, including to the Gulf state of Kuwait.

So when a news report recently claimed that a Sikh gurudwara had been shut down as a reaction to events in Gujarat, Singhvi immediately shot off a letter to the press. ‘‘The closing down of the only Gurudwara in Kuwait is a matter of serious concern,’’ the statement said, ‘‘Gujarat riots are nothing but a fig-leaf excuse put forth by Kuwait. The distressing reality is that the Government of Kuwait have unfortunately succumbed to the pressures of religious fanatics and fundamentalists in Kuwait who appear to be gaining the upper hand...If these trends continue in Kuwait, India would have to seriously review its bilateral relations...’’

For a start, Singhvi got his facts wrong. The gurudwara was shut down over a year ago and for reasons entirely disconnected with Gujarat. Seems the gurudwara continues to function, only it has been shifted from one place to another. Kuwait seems to have taken up the issue and there are red faces all around after Singhvi’s letter. Especially since Singhvi holds has Cabinet status.

East Timor, taboo no more

When East Timor was breaking away from Indonesia two years ago, New Delhi took a strong disapproving stand. The perceived similarities between East Timor and Kashmir were stronger, or at least that’s what the MEA believed, despite the fact that Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee then went in his capacity as a UN special envoy to the region. Indonesia and India, with the largest Muslim populations in the world respectively, were seen by both capitals as a potpourri of cultures and both recognised the danger of allowing provinces to separate from the mother country. How the world has changed, though, in these two years. Minister of state in the MEA Omar Abdullah will now be going to participate in East Timor’s first Independence Day celebrations in the middle of May. India’s permanent representative to the UN in New York has landed the job of the UN’s special envoy to Dili. Meanwhile, India’s ambassador to Jakarta is also likely to be accredited to the new country.

Gopal Gandhi, going, going, going

India's ambassador to Sri Lanka Gopal Gandhi has been on a roller-coaster. Or should it be an escalator. First he was going as high commissioner to London, then he wasn't. Now it seems that he’s going as India’s envoy to Norway. In fact, current ambassador to Oslo Nirupam Sen and Gandhi will be exchanging places, an indication perhaps of the importance of Norway’s mediation in the peace process between Colombo and the LTTE.

Meanwhile, India’s importance in the Sri Lankan tangle seems to be underlined with the impending return of Mangala Moonesinghe as high commissioner to India. Moonesinghe, who has been in London for the past year and a half getting the British to ban the LTTE, clearly has the confidence of both sides at home. Last time around he was Chandrika’s appointee, now he is Ranil Wickremesinghe’s. As an ex-MP, Moonesinghe was part of a plan in the late 1980s to restore the peace process, although that fell apart at the last minute. Now he’s coming back to a place where he was incredibly popular.

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