Unprecedented dinner for RM Pranab
The Indian embassy in Washington DC was in the ‘hyperactive’ mode with the upcoming VVIP visits of Raksha Mantri Pranab Mukherjee in June 2005 and PM Manmohan Singh in July. As the Defence Attache, it was my responsibility to conduct the visit of the RM in conjunction with the US Department of Defence (DoD). We had a series of meetings at the Pentagon during which I observed that the planning parameters of the visit were routine. Considering Mukherjee’s status of being one of the biggest heavyweights in Indian politics and the No. 2 in the Cabinet, I felt that his visit had to have more substance and could not be treated as just another routine event. Thankfully, the response of the Americans was positive, and soon a meaningful itinerary was chalked out.
I, however, noticed that no official dinner was being hosted for our RM. When I highlighted this omission and told the DoD that since our RM had hosted a banquet for Rumsfeld in India, reciprocity was expected, it simply replied that Rumsfeld had never hosted a dinner for anyone and that he would not be doing so this time either. Seeing the reluctance of the officers on this issue, I asked that my request for a reciprocal protocol dinner be recorded and submitted to their final decision makers.
Shortly afterwards, I got a call from the Pentagon that there was a change and that Rumsfeld would now be hosting a formal dinner for our RM!
The RM was a thorough gentleman, very simple in nature, and it was a great pleasure to be with him for those few days. The visit progressed smoothly, though I sometimes wondered if either Mukherjee, with his strong Bengali accent, and Rumsfeld, with his Chicago one, could actually understand what the other spoke!
On the last evening, I escorted the RM to the formal dinner at an exclusive restaurant in downtown Washington DC where a private lounge had been reserved by the DoD. It was a pleasant surprise to see the large crowd and the status of the guests invited for the RM. I could see the who’s who of the Pentagon, as also some bigwigs from the State Department among the guests. The evening proceeded very well and the wine and conversation flowed easily. Rumsfeld was in a relaxed mood and I felt particularly pleased that he spent time with me wanting to hear of my experiences as a Brigade Commander on the LoC.
But the masterstroke was yet to come. Suddenly, there was a flutter across the lounge as some Secret Service agents walked in through a private side entrance. And behind them, to our utter surprise, in walked Dick Cheney, the Vice President himself! I think everyone was absolutely delighted at the sight of this most unexpected guest. As later some officers told me, what happened that evening was totally unprecedented. By this very thoughtful gesture, these two very powerful US leaders had signalled a big step forward in Indo-US military ties.
As the evening wound up, I raised a silent toast to them!
