Natwar tries hard to prove he has reinvented himself

So loud have the murmurs about his being antiquated become, that Natwar Singh, India's new External Affairs Minister, chose to publicly deny at a press conference that he is stuck in the Cold War era. "The world has changed in the past 14 years," he said. "I have changed. The world has changed. The Soviet Union does not exist."

He went on, however, to say that the Non-Aligned Movement ought to be reinvented – for a world in which terrorism, AIDS, the environment and poverty had replaced colonialism, imperialism and apartheid.

The press conference had evidently been called to calm the storm that has been caused in Pakistan by his suggestion that contentious issues such as Kashmir could be put aside while positive relations are built on other fronts.

However, his explanation that "I was not making a policy statement, nor was I authorised to do so," is likely to cause further confusion. He did not disclose who needed to authorise India's external affairs minister to make statements on India's foreign policy.

Having stated that he wanted India and Pakistan to base their relations on trust, he made assertions that will surely be deeply resented in Islamabad. For example, he said about the proliferation of nuclear materials from Pakistan that, "to say that the government of Pakistan was not aware is to do grave injury to our intelligence."

It was not as if Natwar Singh's statements were calculated to upset Pakistan in particular. He was simply trying – far too hard, as it turned out – to prove that he had reinvented himself for what he described as a media-propelled world.

He stated explicitly that times had changed considerably since he had joined the Foreign Service 51 years ago – when he was told that "an accomplished diplomat thinks twice before saying nothing."

That indeed was a different time and Natwar Singh – scion of a feudatory family and an alumnus of Delhi's St Stephen's College during its most establishmentarian years – was just right for the job then.

He was already a little out of date when Rajiv Gandhi appointed him a Minister of State for External Affairs in the late `80s. Although he appears to have realised that he has to change, he has his work cut out.

Indeed, his statements about several other countries are no less likely to confuse, if not offend, than those on Pakistan.

He began by saying that his government "attaches the highest importance to an acrimony-free, multifaceted relationship with the US" but then stated in a somewhat pejorative tone that "our American friends discovered terrorism on 9/11."

Asked if India might send troops to Iraq, Natwar Singh said the decision would depend on factors like who invited the troops, under whose command they would operate and what role the UN had. That was good enough but he stated later, quite unnecessarily, that "I think Poland is having second thoughts" about its troops deployed in Iraq.

As for the decision to take the matter to the UN, he said kudos were due to " Colin Powell and Blair" – pointedly leaving out the US President. Sri Lanka too might have cause to complain – perhaps during Natwar Singh's visit there next week. While pointing out that that country had a 10 per cent growth rate 20 years ago and that the pressure had gone out of that, he added, "I am not sorry but…" and got a few laughs.

The unabashedly upper crust minister evidently thinks of himself as a master of humorous thrust and parry. At one point he said that people say, "Natwar Singh is a hawk. I don't understand. We run a foreign policy establishment, not a bird sanctuary." Too often, though, did he commit faux pas. "Buddhism is gone from India," he said, for instance, ignoring the fact that the top leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which supports his government in Parliament, are among the tens of thousands of recent converts to Buddhism.

Perhaps it is for the best then that border negotiations with China have been left to National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit. No doubt the mandarins in Natwar Singh's ministry will have their hands full keeping ties with other countries on an even keel.