Oral History Record of Ambassador Prem K. Budhwar Interview Conducted by Ambassador Skand R. Tayal (2013) 1 Contents Early Life of the Ambassador Moscow (1963-1967) Hong Kong (1967-1969) Hanoi (1969-1972) Delhi (MEA) as Deputy Secretary (IC & EA) (1972-1975) Hamburg as Consul General (1975-1976) Bonn as Counsellor (1976-1978) Moscow as Counsellor/Minister (1978-1980) Ethiopia as Ambassador (1980- 1983) Delhi (MEA) as Joint Secretary (EA) (1983-1984) Chief of Protocol (1984- 1986) Berlin (East Germany) as Ambassador (1986-1987) Moscow as Deputy Chief of Mission with rank of Ambassador (1987- 1991) Brazil as Ambassador (1991-1992) Canada as High Commissioner (1992-1997) Concluding thoughts 2 Early Life of the Ambassador INTERVIEWER: Thank you Ambassador Budhwar for agreeing to participate in the Oral History project. Your professional background and rich experience should be of considerable interest to many, notably those who closely follow India‘s foreign policy and its principal tool, the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). AMBASSADOR: Well, I am happy to be included in this unique project and to be interviewed by an experienced diplomat like yourself who I have had the pleasure of knowing for nearly three decades, both as a colleague and as a friend. INTERVIEWER: As a student of political science it is logical that you opted for the Foreign Service. Was the glamour of foreign travel also a motivation? AMBASSADOR: It is hard to attribute any single factor that motivated me to join the Foreign Service. The attraction of foreign travel and living abroad was no doubt there. But overall a diplomatic career held several other attractions for me. I think my interest in a Foreign Service career goes back to the 1950‘s when I was still in early college. Foreign affairs began to attract me even as a student, as also the world beyond India. After finishing my Matriculation from St. Edwards High School in Simla (there was no Higher Secondary those days) I joined college also in Simla, BM College. One of my class mates was from Ethiopia studying in India under a Government of India scholarship scheme. I still remember his name, Tessema Ibiddo. Tessema and I became good friends and I would keep asking him about his country, Ethiopia. In the process I gathered enough material to write an article entitled ‗Ethiopia Today‘ for the college magazine and it was published. My first ever published material. Little did I know then that about thirty years later I would be in Ethiopia as my country‘s Ambassador. I managed to locate Tessema Ibiddo who had recently retired as his country‘s Deputy Finance Minister. You can imagine how we both reacted on meeting each other after such a long gap of years. After staring at each other for a few moments, it was a warm hug and a long chat recalling our days together as students. This is just one of the charms of a diplomatic career. The world is your stage. You can have friends and contacts all over the globe, stay in touch with them and who knows one day you may even meet them again. 3 I will be honest, yes the charm of travelling and living abroad was a strong plus point in favour of a Foreign Service career. You have to look at things in the right context. India of the period when I joined the Foreign Service was a foreign exchange strapped country. Reserves of around six to seven billion dollars were considered just about adequate and we seldom managed to cross that figure. Unlike now, foreign travel for an average Indian was a dream. Even if you went out, you were hardly allowed any foreign exchange. Remember those famous eight US dollars you got at the airport against your Rupees, later gradually rising to the princely figure of twenty. Stay and shopping abroad depended on who was hosting your visit. A Foreign Service career delivered you from all this. You lived and worked abroad. You were paid abroad and in the precious foreign exchange. You had access to all the foreign and much sought after goodies like a car, a music system, clothes, to mention just a few, and on top of it, as a diplomat, you were a privileged person with certain immunities and a special status. All this made you the envy of many back in India. While on a visit to your country people were curious to know about life abroad. At times you were, quite honestly, made to feel almost as though you belonged to a different world altogether. This massaged your ego very well, however modest you remained. Even when you came on a home posting your place was equipped with foreign gadgets that you had brought along as your permissible heavy baggage, even your clothes were different, you were, in fact, in many ways made to feel like a different person. Imported cars those days were a luxury within the reach of very few only and certainly not if you were in government service. But outside the South Block (home to the MEA) it was a different sight. The car park had mostly foreign cars. As a Deputy Secretary in the early 1970s I had a Mercedes. I do not think our colleagues in the Ministries of Finance or Home across the road in the North Block were particularly thrilled or happy with this sight outside the Ministry of External Affairs. This was the image of the IFS those days Of course, there were other motivating factors as well, if anything, of greater substance and importance. Please do not forget that India was still in its fifteenth year of independence when I joined the Foreign Service in 1962. It was Nehru‘s India. He was his own Foreign Minister and our foreign policy bore the stamp of his influence in every way. Non-alignment was our battle cry. We were a major inspiration for many countries still struggling to throw off the yoke of colonialism. India was an accepted and recognized moral force on the world scene otherwise in the throes of the Cold War. We were a bridge between the Western world led by the USA and the Communist world headed by the Soviet Union. India was a sought after entity by both sides. To be a part of this exciting and significant role was a major attraction, hence the realisation that a Foreign Service career was 4 where the action was, a career that promised not just glamour but also a meaningful role in life, more satisfying than perhaps ensured by any other career. All this seemed to merge perfectly with what I wanted in life. Even as a student doing my MA in Political Science from Delhi University, the constant refrain of our teachers in the Arts Faculty was that a Foreign Service career should be the logical choice of those doing well in their studies. When I topped in the University being the only one clearing the final examination in first division, our then Head of the Political Science and International Affairs Department and Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, the almost revered Dr. CJ Chacko had this to tell me: ―My dear boy, if you continue to work hard I have no doubt that you will walk into the IFS.‖ In short, it looked like, as indeed to many others my generation, a dream career and I was determined to have a go at it. Fortunately, I made it in my very first attempt. INTERVIEWER: What were the service preferences of your parents/family? Relatives and friends normally advise a civil service aspirant to join the IAS or the IPS for obvious reasons. AMBASSADOR: Let me first answer the first part of your question. Things should be viewed in the context of the trend prevalent when I sat for the UPSC examination. Those days the IAS and the IFS were the clear choice of those sitting for the higher civil services all India competitive examination conducted annually by the UPSC. It was common for the toppers in the examination opting for one of these two services, with the IFS invariably attracting the very top layer. Since you could not be sure of the outcome, it was considered safe to opt for other services as well since career opportunities were limited those days with a government job holding a major attraction. Hence it was fairly common for civil service aspirants to opt for virtually all Class I services on offer. From what I recall, the list ran into almost a dozen services ending, I think, with the Indian Ordinance Factories Service. I myself opted for all, naturally in my order of preference, since one never knew what the final outcome was going to be. After all, if you got only something that did not appeal much as a career choice, you could always refuse. Or, as many did then, and I think even now, you took whatever was offered and tried your luck again the following year. Those days you were allowed only two attempts and provided you were still within a certain age bracket, 21 to 24 in my days. Things have eased considerably now with a major relaxation on both these counts, particularly for those from the reserved category. As you have yourself observed, even the order of preferences very often is a different story now. Even the IAS sometimes gets relegated to a lower 5 position with the top preferences being the Police Service, the Revenue Service (Income Tax) and Customs and Excise. I would not like to delve into the reasons for this but you are welcome to imagine the same. Also, let me add that the catchment area, so to say, for recruitment to the higher civil services has also undergone some major changes over the years. With so many other career opportunities now available to bright youngsters, a civil service career is not even considered by some. Reflective, in a positive sense, of the socio-economic changes in the Indian society, the elitist character of the civil services too has corroded somewhat. The top universities and colleges of the country no longer have a monopoly hold over the UPSC examination. I was myself a witness to this visible change when, post retirement, I served for a few years on the UPSC‘s personality test board for recruitment to the higher civil services. During my days, the top preference almost without exception was the IAS or the IFS, with the latter often scoring over the former. It was rightly said then that all those in the IFS could have easily joined the IAS by simply saying so, but that could not be said of the IAS when it came to being in the IFS. The IFS would invariably get filled up from amongst the top twenty or at the most thirty of the combined list of around a hundred of the successful candidates for these two services. Now coming to the first part of your question, it takes me to a somewhat interesting story. Ours is a very small family and both my mother (I lost my father when I was just four) and my elder brother were very keen, almost insistent, that I joined the IAS. When it came to filling out the application form for the UPSC examination, my brother sat next to me to ensure that I put down IAS as my first preference. Being a difficult and a competitive examination there was no guarantee that I would make it and even if I did which Service I would be offered. It all depended on one‘s ranking in the final merit list of successful candidates. Recognizing this, both my mother and brother agreed to my opting for all Services on offer, including the IFS as my second preference. This done I submitted my application at the UPSC. But since my mind all along was firmly made up in favour of the IFS I found it very hard to accept this compromise on the choice of my career. In fact, gradually it even started affecting my preparation for this tough examination. Increasingly I felt that I had not been fair to myself or my future. Now while filling up the UPSC form I had noticed it mentioned in small print that if one wanted to make any changes they could be made before a certain last date. Quietly, without telling anyone at home, I went across to the UPSC and altered my order of preference to make the IFS the first choice and IAS the second. Having done this, my preparation for the examination picked up the earlier momentum. A few months down the line when I was called for the UPSC‘s viva voce or personality test this alteration 6 that I had made in my application was noticed by Sh. KPS Menon (Sr) who was on the Board. He pointedly asked me as to why this. Did it indicate that I could not make up my mind as regards career choice? I thought the best would be to honestly tell the Board how I could not possibly subordinate my main ambition in life to family sentiments and emotions. Sh. Menon‘s reaction was: ―So, you are trying to get into the diplomatic service diplomatically.‖ To cut the long story short, I finally made it to the IFS. By then, through my persuasive conversations at home I had largely succeeded in making both my mother and brother realise that a Foreign Service career was the best thing for me. This little trick that I had played on them was ultimately divulged by me to them some twenty years later. I still feel happy that I resorted to this. In fact, if I could start life all over again, as regards career choice, unhesitatingly I would opt for the Foreign Service again. INTERVIEWER: How large was your batch? Did the top ranks opt for the Foreign Service? AMBASSADOR: My batch, 1962, was of fifteen. Ten from the general list and the last five from the SC (3) and ST (2) reserved category. In other words, one third of our batch consisted of reserved category candidates. For some reason, the two batches previous to ours did not have any from the reserved category. Consequently, from what one heard, there was a Court directive to the UPSC to clear this backlog with our batch, hence the disproportionately high figure of 33% out of a total of fifteen. The IFS was still a very much sought after service. In our batch, the topper in the combined list of IAS/IFS opted for the IFS. The remaining nine for the general category vacancies were from the first twenty five of the combined merit list. The last five from the reserved category were from lower down in the overall list of about a hundred. Obviously, the IFS was still a hot favourite and a very much sought after career. INTERVIEWER: Any lasting memories of the Probation period, both pleasant and unpleasant? AMBASSADOR: I reached the National Academy of Administration (later named after the late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri) in Mussorie on May 20, 1962. My government service career started from the following day, May 21, 1962, when I signed the charge report. It was an exciting moment in one‘s life and the start of a long journey that was to end in 1997 upon superannuation from the service. In 1962 retirement looked like centuries 7 away. Instead, the focus was on what lay ahead. There was hope, expectation and the thrill of a career in the diplomatic service. Being in the salubrious climate of Mussorie, away from the gruelling heat of Delhi in May, by itself looked like a well deserved reward for all the hard work one had put in for making it to the Foreign Service. Life in the Academy, six months, going through the foundation course, was easy and enjoyable. With my social sciences background studies at the Academy posed no problem. It was fun getting to know one‘s IFS batch mates and making friends with Probationers of other services. In the evenings, flaunting the Academy blazer, one would go for a walk to the Mall. Mussorie those days was a relatively quiet and lovely hill station attracting a fair number of tourists and holiday makers escaping the heat and dust of the plains. I have never liked getting up very early in the mornings but the Academy training schedule left one with no choice. Reaching the Happy Valley ground for PT looked like an unnecessary effort. Our Deputy Director in charge of discipline, retired Brigadier Shereef was a nice but no nonsense man and one took him seriously. But an even more jarring aspect of the training was the early morning horse riding compulsory lessons. Given the changed circumstances, horse riding looked like an unnecessary infliction with no use in ones subsequent career. Instead, some basics of motor mechanism and driving would have been a lot more useful as preparation for the future. I understand that this aspect of the training at Mussorie has since undergone a change and made more relevant. The total number of those undergoing the foundation course at Mussorie those days was a little over three hundred including probationers of all services. But even by the end of May, the total number had barely touched forty---about ten from the IFS and the rest from the IAS. In the case of others their formalities like medical examination and police verification were still getting completed. The Director of the Academy, Late A.N Jha, rightly felt that a training programme meant to cover about three hundred probationers could not possibly be started with just about forty of us who had made it on schedule to the Academy. How this was allowed to happen I cannot explain but in subsequent years, I understand, the commencement of the training at Mussorie was better coordinated. The question now was what to do with those few of us who had already made it on time and formally joined government service. For the handful of us at the Academy it was already becoming something of a paid holiday. Finally, after coordinating with the then Home Secretary in Delhi, it was decided to send the forty or so of us on what was conveniently labelled as a cultural tour of Punjab and Kashmir. Our entire group was divided into four 8 sub-groups of about ten each and I was made the leader of Group ―A‖. A teacher from the Academy, Dr. Puri, our History professor, was over all in charge of the group. Our first halt was Chandigarh, some sightseeing there, and then a trip to Bhakra and Nangal. Being peak summer we were happy to put this part of the tour behind us with our next halt being Srinagar. For the next week or so it was great fun being shown the different tourist spots of the Kashmir valley---Gulmarg, Pahalgam, Sonamarg, Gandarbal, Mattan- --to name some besides the various sites in and around Srinagar and, of course, several ―shikara‖ rides on the Dal Lake. It was great fun indeed. Since the Academy at Mussorie was still not ready to start the course, all of us, in much smaller groups, were then attached to various army units in Kashmir in what was called Army Attachment. I personally found this to be both exciting and educative, particularly the weeklong stay in bunkers at 13,000 ft. in one of the army units right next to the Cease Fire Line, later to be called the Line of Control after the 1971 war. Finally, we were back in Mussorie by early July when the Academy was in full strength and the formal course started, to conclude by early December. The brief training at the Ministry of External Affairs was useful, particularly in Ciphers. Bharat Darshan was most welcome since most of us had a very limited idea of the rest of the country. District training for three months, for which I was assigned to Sambalpur in Orissa, was easily one of the most useful parts of the training. I was lucky to have a Deputy Commissioner, an elderly IAS officer, Sh. S.N Mishra, who not only took great personal interest in my district attachment but was almost in awe of the Foreign Service. He put me up in the Circuit House for the entire duration of my stay, almost two and a half months, in Sambalpur, placed a four wheel drive vehicle (a Land rover) at my disposal and a chauffeur. He made sure that I visited all the five sub-divisions of the district and as many villages as possible. On weekends he insisted that I joined him for breakfast and also share with him my experiences and impressions of this extensive touring. Upon learning that I did not know driving he instructed that while thus travelling around in the district I should also be taught driving. In fact, my first driving licence was subsequently issued in Sambalpur. To wind up, I was sent to the State Capital Bhubaneshwar for about ten days to call on and interact with senior officials in the Secretariat. Finally, there was a trip to the famous Sun temple at Konark and the temple at Jagannath Puri as part of my exposure to the cultural richness of Orissa. Frankly, I could not have asked for more from my district training of three months, a memorable and highly useful experience indeed. But this was not the impression of some of my IFS batch mates who had been assigned to other districts across the country. It really depended on how much interest your Deputy Commissioner or Collector took in your training. Answering specifically the concluding part of your 9 question, I really cannot think of or recall any unpleasant memories of my Probation period in India. It was essentially a happy time, exciting in some ways, a learning experience in many respects. By and large, a very pleasant time even though one was under training. INTERVIEWER: The profile of the young entrants to the IFS now is radically different from the profile of Foreign Service recruits in your time and even from my time. In your thoughtful recent book: ―Making of a Diplomat: Hone your Skills‖ you have made several suggestions regarding recruitment to the IFS as well as the training modules. Would you like to elaborate on some points which would be relevant to the government and human resource managers at this time? AMBASSADOR: A very good question indeed. I do feel rather strongly about the way our various civil services are shaping up of late, but I am particularly worried over the way things are going with the IFS. If it has dropped in the listing of service preferences, this is not necessarily a calamity, though it should be a matter of some concern. After all, to start with, this all India competitive examination conducted every year by the UPSC attracts, I hear, almost a lac and a half candidates initially. The final list of successful candidates is just a few hundred. That is very drastic pruning and, one would like to believe that those finally making it, even the much enlarged reserved category, have something in them to have made it to the final few hundred out of several thousand. While ranking in the combined merit list does matter and is even an indicator of your talent, it need not be taken as the final word on how actually you are going to perform in practice. I know of quite a few cases of toppers in the beginning somewhat lagging behind in actual performance in later years. Academic excellence is one thing, how you shape up in the practical sense can be a different ball game. The wide choice of subjects and disciplines available at the recruitment stage does not even ensure a perfect level playing field for all. In mathematics, for example, scoring hundred percent marks is not something uncommon. But it is unthinkable in the case of subjects like History, Political Science, and Economics etc. The overall aggregate is close to two thousand marks, including the interview. While a difference of even one mark in your aggregate score will determine your ranking in the combined merit list, it need not necessarily mean that you are inferior material. But your social and academic background does matter and will show even in later years. Focussing on the IFS, I have no hesitation in maintaining that this is the only service that requires you to conform to certain widely 10