With the passing away of Ambassador Satinder K. Lambah last Thursday, June 30, yet another star of the Indian Foreign Service has bid good bye.
In the four decades of his distinguished career, Lambah was India’s envoy to Hungary (1986-89), Pakistan (1992-95), Germany (1995-98) and Russia (1998-2001). Even after his retirement, he held many high profile assignments as:
(i) Convener of the National Security Advisory Board (2004-05), Government of India;
(ii) Co-Chairman of the Task Force on National Security (2011-12), Government of India;
(iii) leader of the Indian delegation to the Track II deliberations between India and Pakistan (2005-2014); and
(iv) Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan (November 2001 – July 2002).
In each assignment, Lambah left large foot prints of innovative achievements for his successors to pursue, emulate and build on in later years.
Over the years, the Indian Diplomatic Corps has had the privilege of nurturing and producing many a legend. In the good old days some of them recorded their memoirs, which have helped successors and younger readers get a glimpse of the legends themselves, their times, the civilisations and cultures they explored. There are gripping stories in them of encounters with some of the most extraordinary men, women and historic situations in the capitals they served. Erudite articles by former envoys can be seen almost every day, even today in magazines, newspapers and other journals in the Indian media.
A few among the tribe have scaled heights far above the permissible maximum among diplomatic corps.
Ambassador K. Natwar Singh became a Junior Minister in the external affairs ministry. Ambassador K.R. Narayanan became President of India, Ambassador Hamid Ansari was Vice-President of India, Today, Dr. S. Jaishankar heads the Ministry of External Affairs and Hardeep Singh Puri runs the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
External affairs minister S. Jaishankar at the parliament. Photo: PTI
Notwithstanding the above, there is a section of eminent and self effacing men and women in our diplomatic corps who are colossal reservoirs of the ring side knowledge and understanding of the finer moments of our history. Some of them have stood behind charismatic leaders under whom they had the privilege of working with in moments of crises. They have occasionally enthralled their colleagues old and young at informal gatherings whenever some junior coaxed them into narrating compelling anecdotes. However, they have remained adroitly loyal to the old adage that the civil servant must not only be fearless and fair but also faceless.
The name of Ambassador S.K. Lambah would be among the first few in that long list.
He has rarely ever been seen in talk shows and media interviews, nor are his views seen in print.
A 1964-batch officer, Lambah led the Track II delegations of India with his Pakistani counterpart Tareeq Aziz for nine years between 2005 and 2014. He was also the Prime Minister’s special envoy to Afghanistan.
Lambah had kept meticulous records of Track II meetings that have since been submitted to the government. They will be precious for future policy makers.
The parallel endeavour of Track II was set up to find mutually acceptable solutions to our hitherto intractable disagreements
Although the contents of Lambah’s records have not been revealed to the public, their value can be assessed by what our ‘adversaries’ in the discussions have said about Lambah.
Also read: Ahead of Times, Pragmatic in All Roles, Satinder K. Lambah Is Indian Diplomacy’s Ever-Shining Star
Riaz Mohammad Khan, a former Pakistani Foreign Secretary, was quoted by PTI Islamabad as having said, “If ever peace was created between Pakistan and India, its credit will also go to Lambah.”
PTI Islamabad also quotes former Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshed Kasuri as having said, “I had worked with him and his efforts for peace between the two countries will not go in waste…I tell you.”
Thus Lambah had earned high praise even from his adversarial interlocutors in Pakistan and that is no mean achievement.
I was first introduced to Lambah by Ambassador Chandrashekhar Dasgupta in the spring of 1997 in Brussels. It was at a meeting of Indian Envoys of the European Union (EU) hosted by Dasgupta at the Indian Mission to EU in Brussels. I was at the fag end of my assignment as Counsellor entrusted with the desk of trade, investment and economic cooperation with EU.
Satinder K. Lambah. Photo: Twitter/@orfecon
When Dasgupta mentioned in passing to the visiting envoys that my wife and I had been posted as Counsellors to the High Commission of India, Islamabad, Lambah had a spark in his eyes and seemed as excited as we were about our going to Pakistan. He had just arrived in Bonn after a successful stint in Islamabad as High Commissioner. He met us during the tea break and insisted that we visit him in Bonn and take a briefing before we left Brussels on our way to India and onwards to Pakistan.
Lambah had never met us before. But the warmth and sincerity of his voice and tone persuaded us and we happily accepted his offer.
The following week we drove down to Bonn. When we reached the India House in Bonn, the dining table was beautifully done up. We were introduced to the distinguished guests as they started arriving. Among invitees were a former finance minister of Pakistan and a billionaire business tycoon from Lahore. They were the first two Pakistani gentlemen we met and one of them became our link to Lahore during our stay in Pakistan. Through him we befriended many more of his friends and acquaintances and created a decent network of our own. An unusual tycoon, he had a Pajero on permanent and perennial duty to transport Indian visitors free of cost to Panja Sahib and Nankana Sahib.
Before we left Bonn, Lambah took us to his office at his residence, took out a thick telephone book and gave us a large number of contacts in Pakistan. We did not meet all of them but the many we met helped us develop more contacts, making our stay in Islamabad momentous and eventful.
With his departure, we have lost a brilliant diplomat who had an uncanny ability to convert his adversaries into admirers.
A warm, gentle and affectionate person, he was generous to a fault when it came to sharing his time and knowledge with even the juniormost who needed help from him. He was accessible to everyone, everywhere. He left a mark whereever he went and whatever he did and will be remembered by a large community of friends in India and across the world.
A.R. Ghanashyam is a former diplomat.
