Behind the scenes of leaders’ foreign visits

These days, India-China relations are dominating headlines.

- Pavan K Varma

But behind the headlines that emerge from every international summit, there are days of intense planning and preparation, and inevitably, some interesting and humorous anecdotes destined to remain unknown. I was involved with two path-breaking visits to China, one by Prime Minister (PM) Rajiv Gandhi in 1988, and the other by President R Venkatraman in 1992.

Rajiv Gandhi's visit to China in 1988 was the first after Jawaharlal Nehru's in 1954. I went to China as part of the team tasked with preparing for it, and then again as part of his delegation.

At the time of PM's departure from the Technical Area in Delhi, I found that one suitcase had been conspicuously kept aside and not loaded. According to security instructions all checked-in baggage had to be deposited unlocked for screening.

The locked suitcase belonged to foreign minister PV Narasimha Rao. The director, Special Protection Group in charge of PM's security, a fine officer, politely but firmly informed Rao’s aide that on the PM's plane there is only one VIP. Either the key should be procured quickly or the baggage would not go.