AFRICA DIARY
I barely completed seven months of a tension-ridden
stint in the paradise called Fiji, as India’s Diplomatic
Representative to the Pacific Island nations in 1990.
This was after the military coup there, engineered by the
Army Commander Col. Sitveni Rabuca, during which the
predominant population of Indian origin was racially targeted
and denied of their democratic and human rights. India gave
them moral support and took up their just cause at various
multilateral fora, which were not liked by the illegal military
junta. Then one fi ne morning in the middle of May 1990, I was
summoned by their Foreign Secretary, who curtly conveyed
that on account of the alleged hostile attitude of Government
of India towards Fiji, a decision had been taken to ask India to
close down its diplomatic mission immediately. Accordingly,
I left the station prematurely in June 1990.
On returning to New Delhi, I was asked by Government
of India to proceed to Senegal immediately to take charge
as the Ambassador of India there. For me, it came as a
pleasant surprise. Senegal enjoys a reputation as being
‘Petite’(little Paris) of West Africa. As a prominent leader
of the Francophone countries in the region, it is politically
important. It was considered to be the bastion of democracy
during the period when in majority of the countries in that
continent, citizens did not enjoy the right to exercise franchise
in a free and fair manner. Strategically, it is considered an
important outpost to reach out to the West African countries
who had hitherto not got the importance they deserved from
India. Despite this fact, on political front, India and Senegal
have a common approach on many global issues, including
UN Security Council reforms, the future of multilateralism,
climate change, South-South Cooperation and multilateral
trade negotiations. This has led to our fruitful cooperation in
the UN, NAM, IAEA, WTO, G-77, G-20.
For me, Senegal historically, apart from being a transit
point (Goree’ Island) for transporting slaves to the Americas,
was the land of the visionary poet Leopold Senghor, the fi rst
Senegalese President after the country gained independence.
He had a soft corner for India. Senegalese are handsome
people. The society shows how disparate elements- French,
Islamic, and African- can mingle to create a unique and
distinctive culture. I am struck by one of their famous sayings:
“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love
only what we understand; we will understand only what we
are taught.”
It was President Leopold Senghor who sent at least fi ve
Senegalese research scholars to India to trace the common
links between Wolof-the language spoken by majority
Senegalese, and the Dravidian languages like Tamil.
I also looked forward to catching up with a close friend
from our days at Oxford, Ambassador Gabriel Sar, Diplomatic
Advisor to the then Senegalese President Abdou Diouf.
(Incidentally, a contemporary celebrity in our group at Oxford
in 1976 was the former Pakistani P.M. Benazir Bhutto, with
whom I had many an argument on the burning topics of the
day, especially the emergence of Bangladesh for which she
blamed India.)
To return to the cultural exchanges between the two
countries as indicated above, Indian fi lms dubbed in French,
continue to be a huge draw in Senegalese cinema halls to this
day! Hindi fi lm songs can be heard on the radios in market
places in Dakar at any time. In the 1990s, there used to be an
active cultural association run by the jovial local impresario
Amadou Badiane, by the name of “Rajasthan Club”. Badiane
popularized Indian folk and cultural dances and Hindi
songs through his road shows throughout the country and
neighbouring states too. All we did was to get for him some
Indian musical instruments, costumes, Indian jewellery, and
Indian music and dance tapes/videos. I am proud to say that
my daughter Medha, who studied in Dakar at that time, gave
Bharat Natyam performances in front of the Senegalese
President and his cabinet ministers at the Opera House and
elsewhere for the TV stations, which were well appreciated.
My three and a half years’ stay in Dakar (1990-94)
turned out to be such a memorable experience professionally
and an enjoyable one personally! Senegal has been a true
friend of India. Our two countries share so many things in
common-our commitment to democracy, holding free and
fair elections, free press and judiciary. We are both secular
countries and have highly developed a cultural sense. We
have been supportive of each other at various international
fora. Senegal has been supportive of India’s quest for
membership in various international organisations. The two
countries initiated the Team-9 project that also involves seven
other Francophone/Lusophone countries in West and Central
Africa for which a sum of $ 2 billion was made available by
Government of India. Senegal as a benefi ciary was deeply
appreciative of India’s gesture.
Majority of Senegalese practice Islam as a religion but
they follow a benign, peaceful and tolerant variety on the
lines of the Sufi mystics. I vividly recall the 6th Summit of
the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) held in Dakar
in 1993. Our well-founded apprehension was that Pakistan
would hijack the summit by moving rabidly anti-India
Resolution on J&K, which is what they ‘ought to do’. We
were comforted by the fact that as the host and Chairman
of OIC for the session, Senegal would not allow India to
be embarrassed. According to my information, it was the
Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, who with the support of
true friends of India like the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
and the Algerian President, that the rhetoric of the resolution
was toned down.
An important event during my tenure as Ambassador
to Senegal was the summit meeting of the G-15 countries
in Dakar in 1994. Senegalese President Abdou Diouf,
74 • Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Diplomatist • Vol 7 • Issue 4 • April-May 2019, Noida