Thread by @sugataraju

A top (retired) bureaucrat reminded me that today marks the silver jubilee of @H_D_Devegowda being sworn in as PM (01 June 1996). I told him it is actually a year short, but, he said there is no harm in ushering it a year earlier. I asked why? 1/6

Troubled about developments in India’s neighbourhood and at the borders, he said, Gowda did so much to build goodwill in the neighbourhood during his short tenure, which has never been acknowledged by the lords in #Lutyens. 2/6

He was the most trusted PM in #Kashmir, held polls there after a decade. He had a fantastic thing going with #Pakistan. He was the first PM to focus on the North#East and stay there overnight; create a special cell in the PMO, and release a special multi-crore package. 3/6

He negotiated with the #Nagas in the shadow of the Swiss Alps. The #OPEC countries obliged him during a major crisis. He pushed the #Ganga treaty and became a household name in #Bangladesh (that’s why he was invited for the #SheikhMujiburRehman centenary in March). 4/6

Fortnight ago, the #Lankan president greeted him on his birthday as a special friend. The #Chinese liked him. He bluntly asked the US to get off its high horse (Kissinger visit). India needs the quiet wisdom of a Gowda today, a master of consultation, not a muscular leader. 5/6

The bureaucrat sent me this clip from #BGVerghese’s book ‘Waters of Hope’ (so apt a title given what he was talking) that spoke of Gowda’s good faith and statesmanship with regard to water treaties. 6/6