The Nation: PM Tour; At Home, Abroad

India Today
October 12,1998

PM 'S TOUR
At Home, Abroad

Away from pressing domestic problems Vajpayee rediscovers himself, his ebullience and his wit.

By Prabhu Chawla

Vajpayee with Chirac When it comes to dealing with his counterparts, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee needs no middlemen. The French, though warm, were shrewd enough to try and mix commerce with diplomacy but Vajpayee offered them nothing more than a strategic partnership (whatever that means) and Brajesh Mishra, his assertive principal secretary, as his special envoy to formalise Indo-French diplomatic re-engineering. Not to forget, of course, an invitation to French Prime Minister Lionel Jospine to visit India. Obviously, Vajpayee was quite clued upon the ground realities of the internal dynamics of France. Being the only western power which did not rap India on the knuckles for its nuclear adventurism, it was not surprising that Vajpayee went out of his way to woo both the rightists led by President Jacques Chirac and the socialists backed by Jospine. The French prime minister was quite disappointed with the short meeting that had been scheduled with Vajpayee and remarked to his Indian counterpart: "I wish we had more time at our disposal. I have a lot to talk to you ...'' Before Jospine could finish, Vajpayee smiled and said, "Even I have much to talk and discuss. We would be really honoured if you could come to India to complete all that we set out to discuss." The senior officials accompanying Vajpayee were taken by surprise, for Vajpayee had accomplished in minutes what they had been racking their heads over for days. Indeed, Indian diplomats were looking for an appropriate opportunity to invite Jospine to India. In January last, Chirac was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations.

Is Vajpayee afraid of the media and opinion makers? In India he may be, but during his nine-day trip to New York and Paris, the prime minister recovered from his self-inflicted psychological intimidation and chose to face needling journalists as well as probing corporate giants. Ignoring the advice of senior officials, he addressed three press conferences and held over a dozen breakfast and luncheon meetings with selected foreign journalists, academics and CEOs of multinational corporations.

The measured yet assertive response even to media missiles that were meant to hurt brought to the fore a new avatar of the prime minister. For example, on his return journey from Paris to Delhi, he was advised to give a short address to accompanying journalists on the gains of his encounters with the world's political and business elite. It was a brief, 10-minute speech that Vajpayee gave and no sooner had he concluded than Ashok Tandon, his media manager, announced that he would not be available to answer queries. In the past, prime ministers have deliberately used such ploys to make safe exits. But not Vajpayee. Ignoring Tandon, he promptly declared, "Chalo, aap sawal shuroo kariye (start shooting your questions)." And it was for the first time since he assumed office that he answered questions on subjects ranging from defence and diplomacy to domestic politics, all without any briefing. In fact, his advisers were earlier closeted together for 40 minutes, preparing themselves for the press conference. But he told them, "There is no need for that.'' Evidently, if there is none between him and his words, Vajpayee is able to find his target without any extra effort.

For a man of frugal habits and a lifestyle totally swadeshi, Vajpayee's New York sojourn turned out to be expensive education in diplomatic hospitality. Vajpayee was visibly uncomfortable in the $1,900-a-day (Rs 80,700), three bedroom suite in the New York Palace Hotel -- his predecessors were never comfortable unless they stayed at the $5,000-a-day (Rs 2.1 lakh) Waldorf Astoria. On top of it, he was told that the Government would have to pay an additional $800 (Rs 34,000) for valet service -- at $50 (Rs 2,125) an hour for two bearers for 16 hours a day -- to serve tea and snacks to foreign dignitaries who were to call on him. The swayam sewak in Vajpayee was clearly surprised: "Why can't we bring our own people to serve these guests," he inquired. To which the reply from his top aides was that serving tea to local guests in pwd and state government guest houses and to discerning guests abroad were not one and the same thing. The prime minister nevertheless managed to do something that was quintessentially Indian: he served Indian delicacies to most of his guests personally.

For one who is among the most heavily protected at home, Vajpayee relished the freedom he had abroad, moving around without fear. Earlier, prime ministers were not allowed to mix even with Indians during customary receptions organised by local ambassadors in their honour. But instead of forcing NRIs to go through the tortuous formality of filing past him for a photo opportunity and a 20-second hand shake, Vajpayee decided to mix freely with all invitees. Both in New York and Paris, he gave a tough time to the SPG when he descended from the podium and started talking to the guests -- mostly elegantly draped women who were enchanted with his way with words.

As an orator, Vajpayee has few peers. In the recent past, if the sting has gone out of many of his speeches, it perhaps has a lot to do with the fact that he is forced to read out something that his speechwriters have cooked up for him. Enough to warrant a debate: should the prime minister read a written speech or speak extempore which is what he was used to until he became the prime minister? In recent months, bureaucratic pressure ensured that the prime minister stuck to written texts even when he addressed semi-political gatherings. But both in New York and Paris, he decided to break free. In New York, he enthralled a 2,000-strong audience at Hotel Sheraton. For over 45 minutes, it was vintage Vajpayee. The witticism and sarcasm were liberally mixed with some jingoism, which needless to say went down well with the swadeshis among the NRIs. The standing ovation that followed virtually every sentence was proof enough.

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