Date:03/07/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/07/03/stories/2002070308471100.htm

National

Pride, regret as Jaswant bids adieu

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI JULY 2. By all accounts it was an emotional farewell today at the South Block for the outgoing External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh.

After nearly four exciting years together, the Indian Foreign Service today bid goodbye to Mr. Jaswant Singh, who is getting ready to walk across to the Finance Ministry in the North Block.

Politicians and bureaucrats are not known for sentimentalism. But as Mr. Singh and his officers parted company, the feelings were mixed. Pride at what has been achieved in the last four years and regret at the departure of a "thinking Minister''.

Together they recalled the "testing times'' the country had endured since the nuclear explosions that rocked the Rajasthan desert in May 1998, and how they came out with flying colours.

"We had a very good run, my friends'', said Mr. Jaswant Singh. His officers responded collectively by praising him for conducting "our foreign policy with wisdom, foresight and clarity of vision''.

It is not often that the Indian Foreign Service, widely seen as elitist and prickly, acknowledges diplomatic acumen outside its own charmed circle. But today, the professional trade union of the IFS made an exception.

In a rare gesture, the Foreign Service Association put on record that it was "proud to be associated'' with Mr. Jaswant Singh, who ran the Indian foreign policy at one of the most challenging moments.

The admiration was indeed mutual. Calling the IFS "an exceptionally talented bunch of officers'', Mr. Singh said his four years with the foreign service was "one of the most rewarding experiences'' of his career.

Summing up the essence of change under his tenure, Mr. Singh said the country has begun to "influence events rather than being pushed by them''. Indian diplomacy was no longer reactive, as it has been for decades. It is now pro-active.

Graceful that he is, Mr. Singh suggested that there is enough credit to go around for the success of the Indian foreign policy and was willing to share it with his officers.

The IFS in turn said that Mr. Singh "brought to Indian foreign policy a distinctive style and verbal felicity all his own''.

All good things come to an end. From the universe of diplomacy, Mr. Singh heads to the "even more complex world of money and finance''. And the professionals of Foreign Office are ready to work with their new political boss, Yashwant Sinha.