From the 16th century, when Hugo Grotius proposed a framework for international law, the nation-states began their journey towards an international order. However, this order goes through phases of stability and disarray. In each phase, nation-states struggle to realign their global perspective with the emerging new order. We are at present witnessing the disarray phase. Contemporary scholars and commentators on international affairs are characterising the present international disorder as unprecedented and more challenging than previous phases of change.
Through the Diplomat’s Lens, a seasoned Indian diplomat, Sudhir Tukaram Devare, reminds them that less than forty years ago, the international order had massively changed when the former Soviet Union collapsed, unfreezing the Cold War. Then also commentaries had used the hyperbolic -‘emergence of borderless world,’ 'peace dividend', ‘end of history’, ignoring that it was one of the cycles of periodical change in the international order.
Devare’s book, written in an understated style, recalls in vivid detail the period of disarray in the international order during the early 1990s, the impact of which was felt far and wide. The author was in vantage positions- first as a budding diplomat in both Moscow and Washington, the two poles of the Cold War.
The Soviet Union was ruled with an iron hand and was moving to create satellite states in Eastern Europe. As he honed his diplomatic skills, he was moved to Frankfurt in the western part of a divided Germany. From this vantage point, Devare was witness to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new map of Europe.
The author was roped in for assignments in Ukraine and other new states that emerged from the breakup of the Soviet Union. This part of the book is very interesting as it recounts how India, which was liberalising its state-controlled economy and was heavily dependent upon Soviet arms, attempted to read and recalibrate its diplomacy to take advantage of the yet unclear global order. Ukraine was an important part of the Soviet arms production chain. As an Indian envoy, Devare must have played a critical role in Indian efforts to gain access to Ukrainian defence production sources. In his book, he just notes it as part of his official duty.
The rewinding to that period offered by this book is useful in understanding the convulsions and concerns caused by President Trump’s America First policy, Russian President Putin’s aggressive postures, China’s rise as an eastern world power and India’s responses. The present disorder is not unprecedented, and a new international order is in the making.
The author’s tour of duty transports him to Seoul and Jakarta, where authoritarian rulers reigned supreme. Something below the surface was simmering in both countries. At one level, both were reorganising their economies-South Korea more than Indonesia. At the political level, popular discontent surfaced and overthrew the authoritarian regimes. Representing the world’s most populous democracy, the author was witness to the roar of democracy in both countries. These countries had tapped into the electronic revolution and export-led growth.
The author’s description of India’s ancient religious and cultural links - mainly Buddhist philosophy-with both South Korea and Indonesia is one interesting aspect. Another part touches upon the Indian diplomacy that had to substantially change track when the government of Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao quietly initiated his ‘Look East’ policy that resonated well with the regional powers. Devare was in Jakarta, the headquarters of ASEAN. He was one of the Indian diplomats in the region who all worked to make India's attempt to enter the ASEAN and APEC regional grouping successful. Devare usefully draws attention to the significance of the Look East policy in relation to the security and prosperity of the eight North East Indian states, whose geography and culture are intricately linked to India’s eastern neighbours.
The Author’s long stint in Sikkim and a posting as a Joint Secretary in the Foreign Ministry looking after India’s relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar eminently qualify him to offer insights about this vital subject.
As one of non- aligned India's envoys in a dynamic region, he gives an idea of the challenges which had to be met, pushing India’s interests in a region hitherto somewhat remote in India’s diplomatic radar. Not only that, but before this phase, there was an underlying distrust between the ASEAN members and India, as their relative distance from the Cold War powers varied.
His career culminated as Secretary ( Economic Relations ) in the External Affairs Ministry when the government led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was expanding and deepening the 1991 economic reforms. In this section, the author opens the reader's eyes to the thinking that went behind the scenes of India’s foreign economic relations.
The book ends with a melodramatic recount of his visit to the Pacific island of Fiji, which was limited to a few days in relative confinement in the home of the Indian envoy. Obviously, this visit was undertaken in the context of a military coup in Fiji to wrest political power from the Indian diaspora in favour of the indigenous Fijians. This island in the vast and faraway Pacific Ocean is closer to India because of its Indian population, which accounts for over forty per cent of its inhabitants, playing an important role in its economy. In this section, however, I missed a fuller background to this development.
The merit of Sudhir Devare’s book, written some twenty years after his retirement, mainly lies in the fact that he could ruminate about significant events in world affairs against the backdrop of equally significant later developments like the Russo- Ukraine conflict, the march of democracy in Indonesia and South Korea, the rise of’ tiger economies’, and other such recent developments.
The reviewer is a former Principal Information Officer, Govt of India.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.