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DIPLOMACY: FOREIGN OFFICE
Helms Woman
Chokila Iyer inherits a troubled IFS. Is she tough enough?
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DIPLOMAT'S
CHOICE: Getting out of the PMO's shadow will be one of Iyer's
priorities |
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The Indian Foreign
Service (IFS) had always prided itself on being far more in tune with
the times than its domestic counterparts in the bureaucracy. But male
chauvinism was its blind side. Early next month it is set to wipe out
that blot when the ultra-slim Chokila Iyer takes over from Lalit Man Singh
as India's first woman foreign secretary. Iyer smiles knowingly at you
and asks, "I don't quite look like the battering ewe that broke the
glass ceiling, do I?"
Ever since Man Singh telephoned her in Dublin
last month, where she was posted as India's ambassador to Ireland, to
inform her that she was to succeed him, Iyer hasn't found much time for
her favourite pastimes-long walks and fiction. Last fortnight she slipped
into Delhi and remained closeted in a secluded room in Delhi's South Block
with a stream of senior officers who head the various sections in the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) briefing her. Iyer wants to be well
prepared when she assumes office on March 12, after Man Singh leaves for
the US as India's ambassador. As she told India Today in her matter-of-fact
tone, "The task is a challenging one, even daunting."
Little doubt. In the past three years, under
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and his External Affairs Minister Jaswant
Singh, Indian foreign policy has undergone tectonic shifts. India has
all but dumped its role of championing non-alignment and being the "voice
of Asia". In its place, Vajpayee and Jaswant Singh have fashioned
a brasstacks pragmatism, unafraid to put national interests in the forefront
while expanding its international outlook. The IFS has had to adapt to
these dramatic changes and on some counts has done well for itself, especially
during the months of international isolation India faced after the 1998
Pokhran explosions. But Iyer also inherits a host of problems that require
all her acumen and energy to tackle in the 14 months she will be in office.
Already there is much heartburn over the spate
of recent postings in key positions, some long overdue. Iyer herself made
it by virtue of her seniority after months of speculation-some say intrigue-over
Man Singh's successor. For a while, Jaswant Singh toyed with the idea
of appointing Kanwar Sibal, India's ambassador to France. He was to move
to Delhi to ready himself for the post. But Sibal would have superseded
at least a score of his seniors and the minister thought it wise not to
cause such a massive upheaval. Eyebrows were raised when almost as an
afterthought Iyer was appointed.
The brows stayed up when the MEA made a few
other glaring rollbacks and postings. Former foreign secretary K. Raghunath
was tipped to go as ambassador to Germany in place of Ronen Sen who was
to take over as India's high commissioner to the UK from Nareshwar Dayal.
But Sen was asked to stay back and Dayal given a surprising extension.
Meanwhile, Leela Ponappa, joint secretary (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar
section) was to go to the US as deputy chief of mission and Alok Prasad,
joint secretary (Americas), was to be appointed India's high commissioner
to Mauritius. But the MEA changed its mind and sent Prasad to the US and
tipped Ponappa for the post of ambassador to Thailand. There were murmurs
too over the decision to send R.S. Jassal, joint secretary and external
affairs spokesperson, to Israel as he is considered more of a Russia expert.
But MEA officials defend the decision saying it was not an unusual posting.
The other crib is that the norm of having officers
stay in a post only for three years-to prevent them from becoming fatigued-was
not being observed in many cases. Vivek Katju, joint secretary in charge
of the important Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan section, has already spent
more than five years in the post and is only now moving as India's ambassador
to Myanmar. To be fair Katju did want to move out after three years but
was told to stay on because the MEA wanted to continue to use his experience
in its dealings with Pakistan. Among Iyer's priority is to ensure that
the institutional system on such issues is not diluted, apart from putting
an end to aberrations in transfers and taking stern action against defiant
officers.
Iyer's other major task would be, according
to J.N. Dixit, former foreign secretary, "to end the steady erosion
in the role of the service as the principal adviser to the government
on foreign policy issues". Much of this is because the Prime Minister's
Office has played an overarching role in foreign affairs over the years.
Doubts were raised about Iyer's ability to take on such a tough assignment
as her career has been devoid of postings to sensitive and important places
such as India's neighbours or the big powers. Iyer points out she has
spent enough time in Delhi handling such issues and doesn't see it as
a disadvantage. Dixit regards her as a "sober, thoughtful and practical
person not given to flights of articulation. She is not flamboyant but
a quiet, methodical and systematic worker". All these should stand
the foreign office's first woman boss in good stead in the turbulent times
ahead.
-Raj Chengappa
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