India and Kyrgyzstan – Notes on Oral History
Shanghai Cooperation Organisaion (SCO) on August 29-30. I thought of sharing some of my own memories of dealing with India’s diplomatic interaction to strengthen the friendly relations existing with Kyrgyzstan as Director of the Central Asia Division of the MEA – not from the archives but from the memory as ‘Oral History’ from October, 1997 to December, 2000.
Kyrgyzstan became an independent country in 1991 the wake of USSR’s disintegration. India recognized it in 1992 and established resident diplomatic mission in Bishkek in 1994. Friendly relations between the two countries, obviously, are underscored by warmth and understanding as desired. During my tenure as the Director of the Central Asia Division, I handled three important visits – Visit of VP Krishna Kant to Kyrgyzstan in 1999, visit of President Askar Akayev to India in 1999 and visit of Kyrgyz Parliamentary delegation to
India in 1999. On our side, both PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and EAM Jaswant Singh were fully alive to the situation and were keen to intensify and further cement the bonds of friendship not only with Kyrgyzstan but others countries of Central Asia too. It is one of my cherished memories that it fell on me to be the Aide of PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the release function of the Hindi version of the Kyrgyz epic text – Manas which considered as the Ramayana of Kyrgyzstan at Hyderabad House in Delhi during visit of President Askar Akayev and also signing of some other agreements between the two countries. During the visit, one bizarre incident happened. It was decided to name a road in Delhi after the Kyrgyz epic Manas during the visit of President Akayev. Accordingly, the road in front of the St. Jesus Mary College in Chanakyapuri was identified and ordered to make it ready for the Kyrgyz President to formally inaugurate it. Late in evening, before the inauguration day, when the State banquet of the President of India in honour of the Kyrgyz President was in progress, I was sitting in my office in South Block. The NDMC senior official told me that there was a big problem as the St. Jesus Mary College and the Christian community had objected to the naming of the road and threatened to start ‘Dharna – Sit in’ to stop the work – laying the signage and plaque etc. I immediately brought it to the notice, through the Protocol Division, of my immediate boss, JS (CA) who was in the State banquet in Rashtrapati Bhawan. In turn, he informed and briefed the leadership; PM and EAM. It was decided and NDMC was instructed to immediately locate another road nearby and get it ready overnight for its inauguration next forenoon as scheduled. We could deliver avoiding yet an undiplomatic incident. The road named after Manas is located just off the main road, Sardar Patel Marg near Bapu Dham. I also recall yet another occasion which gave me considerable satisfaction in my diplomatic career. A terrorist incident happened in Kyrgyzstan sometime in 1999-2000 allegedly by the antiestablishment elements operating from the neighboring countries including China. The Kyrgyz Ambassador came and met me as the Joint Secretary (Head of the CA Division) was either on leave or out of the country on work and said that India being a victim of cross border terrorism should condemn the cross border terrorism in Kyrgyzstan. He said that it would be the first formal reaction from India condemning the cross border terrorism in Central Asia and would be much appreciated. I listened to the Ambassador carefully and said I will do my best in this regard. I drafted a letter from EAM Jaswant Singh to his Kyrgyz counterpart and put it up to my superior (nominated JS in the absence of my regular senior)) with a detailed note on my meeting with the Kyrgyz Ambassador. He agreed and sent the draft letter to EAM. As I indicated above, EAM Jaswant Singh have had added interest in his dealings with Central Asia, he approved the draft letter and it was issued. It became the first formal reaction on the issue of cross border terrorism. On his return, my boss, Joint Secretary (CA) saw the papers and commented in a lighter vein ‘Ramesh you staged a coup in my absence’. Today when I read that PM Narendra Modi’s focus in the SCO Summit in Bishkek will be on cross border terrorism apart from other important issues of security and development, I got a sense of belonging in the diplomatic process in this regard.
to study and explore the possibilities of rail-road routes and connectivity via the Iranian Port Bandar Abbas. During my second visit, I also visited the Osh University and interacted with the intellectuals at the Centre of Indian Studies established in 1997. Those were the years of fulfillment in my diplomatic career. PM Narendra Modi has rightly said that his visit was to underline priority in reinforcing the ties with Central Asia.
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