The Ambassadors’ Club - The Indian Diplomat at Large

Here is the Indian Foreign Service at its honest, understated and effective best. In these accounts of significant
moments in their career, each former ambassador has shown us sides of Indian diplomacy that are seldom visible. This
is not the theory of diplomacy or grand strategy. It is the daily practice of diplomacy, conscious of the great
consequences that follow.
The real value is that these accounts add a sense of time, place and person – the atmospherics – which formal works
on international relations and negotiating accounts omit.
Reading these accounts it is also clear that the Indian diplomat’s world is a lonely one. This is not only because India
is unique in the world, or because non-alignment obliges us to deal with each issue on its own merits. It is also because
we are woefully thin on the ground, understaffed and under-supported.
As these texts show, India has much to be proud of in its diplomats.