Book Review | How the MEA was knocked together

Kallol Bhattacherjee’s book, Nehru’s First Recruits, explores how Indian diplomats were recruited immediately after Independence in 1947. So far this information has been orally transmitted or recounted piecemeal in individual memoirs.

The writer has interviewed some of the doyens of Indian Foreign Service like M.K. Rasgotra (1948 batch) and K. Natwar Singh (1953 batch). He has also spoken to family members of some who are no more.

As a colony, India did not need diplomatic representation abroad until the Second World War. Whereas, for internal administration, Indians had begun to be recruited to the elite Indian Civil Service (ICS), precursor to the Indian Administrative Service. The demand, however, for Indian diplomats was immediate once India began functioning as an independent nation.

This was achieved by hybrid and selective recruitment. Some ICS officers were seconded to the ministry of external affairs (MEA), which remained under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru until his death in 1964. Below them were placed members of erstwhile ruling families, journalists, All India Radio staffers, associates of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose with deep knowledge of East Asia and Myanmar, etc.

From 1948, when two recruitment examinations were held, direct entrants began joining the Indian Foreign Service (IFS). Shri M.K. Rasgotra of that batch, foreign secretary in early 1980s, is the oldest surviving member of the service.

The writer explains the troika of Girija Shankar Bajpai, K.P.S. Menon and S. Dutt as the original leaders in MEA of the evolving diplomatic corps. He also describes the role of the second tier of recruits, below the IFS. Many of them grew into important roles in Indian missions, even as heads of mission. The case of Harivansh Rai Bachchan, renowned Hindi poet and father of Amitabh Bachchan, is unique. He was recruited as officer-in-charge of the ministry’s rather neglected Hindi section.

PM Nehru interviewed the new recruits afresh, after clearing the UPSC examination. He would also summon officers upto the deputy secretary level, imparting the IFS a unique status. Consequently, until the early-1980s getting into the IFS remained highly competitive.

The book thus fills a vital gap in narrating the journey of the early generation of Indian diplomats. But some of the writer’s information is contestable. Spokesmen of the ministry have not always briefed the media once a week. This writer as JS(XP) in 1998-99 did the briefing daily, especially after India’s nuclear tests. Similarly the assumption is doubtful that K. Natwar Singh got his brother-in-law and Punjab chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh to quit Congress because BJP wanted farmers’ agitation scuppered. Congress forcing him to resign caused his rebellion.

Brajesh Mishra’s (IFS: 1951) career is well graphed, till his elevation as India’s first National Security Adviser. But his shift towards BJP is not fully explored. Re-elected Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi took exception to his proximity to the Janata Party regime of Prime Minister Morarji Desai and his minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, compelling him to join the United Nations.

However, the book’s range and recounting of many little-known diplomatic episodes make it an interesting and educative read.

Nehru’s First Recruits

By Kallol Bhattacherjee

HarperCollins India

pp. 368; Rs 699