Reminisces of diplomats good and bad

No doubt our politicians are very smart in convincing the people of what good they have done for the nation and what they will do for the welfare of the citizens too. But they have not been equally successful in their diplomatic ventures. Forget the political appointees, even Foreign Ministry officials, who should actually be called career diplomats, have been able to do nothing for the nation’s welfare in the countries where they have been appointed as ambassadors.

There have been a few exceptions to this when brilliant individuals were chosen to act as diplomats of the country, but such people cannot be seen these days.

I remember a person, who was politically appointed to be the consul general of Nepal in Calcutta. He did such a brilliant job, that he was able to directly call ministers, the governor of the State and also the chief minister, and ask them to do something for Nepal. For example, when India had imposed an embargo on Nepal and not allowed foreign goods to be imported into the landlocked country, this diplomat quickly called the minister of railways and requested him to allow the now unused Trolley buses, to come into Nepal. The buses were gifted by the Chinese government and they were supposed to start services during the coronation of the then

King Birendra. The Indian minister had told this Nepali diplomat, “When we have so many cargo rails, it would be foolish for me not to give certain rail buggies to carry these trolley buses to Nepal”. This author is not sure, but the railway minister of West Bengal was a person who later became a federal minister when the Indian National Congress ruled that country.

The son of this very diplomat was later appointed as the deputy chief of mission in the Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi. And he told me how the then Nepali ambassador there, Karna Dhoj Adhikari, a former well know home secretary had said, “We need young and fresh people as diplomats here, and I personally will recommend his name to be the next ambassador after six months after we work together. It is another story that due to the intricacies of the bureaucracy here and also the lack of conscience of the ministers who were in power then, this nomination of an able diplomat was thrown out of the window when K.P. Sharma Oli was appointed as the foreign minister in the changed political setup. One last note on this is a publication which boasts of being the harbinger of change in the country, but which bent to such a low level of thinking when it published with glee the cancellation of this person’s nomination in bold headlines on its front page. One top-level editor in the same organization apologized to my friend and said, “I shouted at these people doing such a shameless act”. That publication was at that time run by two crooked individuals, but like it is said, they were thrown out by a small fry of Indian decent and now he is in full control. It is also reported that this ordinary businessman had paid millions of rupees to throw out these two individuals, but has the government dared to ask how this man got so much money and from which source?

But to come back to the diplomats who this author knows about, there are only a few who have done well and among these few, one cannot forget the name of late Sardar Yadu Nath Khanal and polished diplomat Dr Bhek Bahadur Thapa. While late Khanal stood apart and gained respect from other nations through his sheer knowledge in virtually every subject, Dr Thapa is distinguished by the fact that even the then president of India was a junior diplomat when he was ambassador to the United States. Dr Thapa, when he was appointed for the second time as ambassador to India, could pick up the phone and talk to the President and another high-ranking official, which our present ambassador in New Delhi can hardly boast about. It was reported in a vernacular daily, how the present Nepali ambassador has not been called for even a courtesy call by the Indian officials in that country’s foreign ministry.

In naming some good people, one cannot forget Dr Biswambar Pyakuryal, who was the Nepali ambassador to Sri Lanka, but who resigned on moral grounds much before his tenure was over. What he achieved or what he could not achieve, this author cannot be a judge of that, but I salute his strong beliefs.

This can hardly be said about the so-called career diplomats. I know a diplomat who stayed in his office without any lights or air conditioning when the heat was a sweltering forty-two degrees outside. He explained that he could not afford to pay the electricity bills. What can we expect from such a diplomat?

Then there was another man, who was pulled by late prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala from another ministry and appointed as foreign secretary as well. He then was appointed as Nepal’s permanent representative to the United Nations. It was widely reported in the media how his wife ran a small outlet under a bridge in the Manhattan area. Further, after much outcry, this man refused to step down through the government here called him back. It was only after he settled down in London, that he returned his diplomatic passport. If this is not shameful, what is, but the authorities here could not initiate any action against this man.

Then there are also some old-time foreign ministry employees, who even hold PhD certificates and call themselves foreign policy experts, but who could not even call up the local media when the prime minister of Nepal was visiting the country where they were posted.

This author also remembers Kedar Bhakta Mathema, who was politically appointed as Nepal’s ambassador to Japan, and how good an impression he left among the people and officials of that country, as he was a natural diplomat. When he finished his tenure, a low-ranking foreign ministry official was made a chargé d'affaires, but this man was cunning in the fact that he spoke fluent Japanese. He even impressed late former Japanese prime minister Hashimoto. Unfortunately, he never became a secretary in his ministry and he was appointed as ambassador to some European countries where he could neither speak French nor German.

This story could go on, but as we end, for now, let us remember the good diplomats and the majority of other diplomats, who seem more interested in only earning money to build another house in Kathmandu and not bother at all about the welfare of the nation they represent as ambassadors. It is difficult to say when this scenario will change for the betterment of Nepal.