A Life in Diplomacy

Much of the late S.K. Lambah’s half-century-long sojourn in diplomacy had to do with Pakistan.

- T.C.A Raghavan

Even without the Pakistan interface, his would have been a most distinguished career, serving as he did as ambassador to Germany and Russia. Yet, it was diplomacy with Pakistan that will constitute his legacy.

In this book, Lambah provides in part a historical recap of Pakistan’s evolution, an anecdotal journey of his own engagement with it, and finally a reflection on the value of diplomacy as an instrument in dealing with our most recalcitrant of neighbours. There is, in addition, a valuable chapter on post-9/11 Afghanistan, where Lambah played a major role both in ensuring that the Indian voice was heard and in bringing about a settlement on which the new architecture of governance was constructed by the US.

Lambah’s interface with Pakistan began with its dissolution in 1971; he was in Dacca in January 1972 as part of the small diplomatic mission established in the immediate aftermath of the emergence of Bangladesh. A few years later, he was in Islamabad for a long stint as India’s deputy high commissioner. In the 1980s, he headed the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran desk in the ministry of external affairs and then, in the 1990s, he was back in Islamabad as High Commissioner.