J.N. Dixit 1936-2005

NEW DELHI: J.N. Dixit, India’s super strategist who powered peace and reconciliation with Pakistan and China in his capacity as national security advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, died here following a massive heart attack on Jan. 3. He was 69. His son Ashok said that Dixit, who was foreign secretary during 1992-94 and was handpicked in May 2004 by Manmohan Singh to be his closest aide on strategic affairs, collapsed in the bathroom early in the morning.

He was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he was declared dead on arrival. He is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters and two stepdaughters.

Dixit regularly wrote columns on international and regional affairs for Indo-Asian News Service which appeared in Desi Talk and News India- Times as well as in several of India’s leading newspapers.

The prime minister expressed “deep shock” at his death, describing it as an “irreparable loss.”

Tributes

* “Shri Dixit served the country with distinction as a career diplomat and was posted to the capitals of many important nations during his nearly four decade diplomatic career. He was always keen to analyze geo-political developments and was recognized as an astute mind in the world of diplomacy. His contributions in the national security aspects are unique.” –– President A.P. J. Abdul Kalam * “I have lost a close friend, a valued colleague and a great source of support and advice. The nation has lost a true patriot, a great diplomat and a wise strategist. The loss is irreparable.” –– Prime Minister Manmohan Singh * An “outstanding member of the foreign service endowed with an analytical mind and powerful intellect. It will be very difficult to replace him.” –– External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh * In his death, the country has lost a veteran diplomat.” –– Home Minister Shivraj Patil * “I am deeply saddened to know about the passing away of Dixit.” –– Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia * “Throughout his distinguished career, Dixit played a central role in improving the U.S.-India relationship, most notably as foreign secretary in the early 1990s and recently as national security advisor. Dixit leaves behind many American friends and admirers.” –– U.S. Ambassador to India David C. Mulford * “I have no words to express my grief and also the sterling qualities of head and heart of Dixit whose contribution to framing India’s foreign policy has been outstanding. To me it is a personal loss.” –– K.P.R. Nair, whose firm, Konark Publishers, brought out Dixit’s first book ‘Anatomy of a Flawed Inheritance –– Indo-Pak Relations 1970-94,’ as well as four of his 10 books.

“I have lost a close friend, a valued colleague and a great source of support and advice.

“The nation has lost a true patriot, a great diplomat and a wise strategist. The loss is irreparable,” he said.

Dixit’s death comes at a time when dialogues with Pakistan and China for the resolution of all outstanding issues are at a crucial stage. He was the key interlocutor in the ongoing dialogues with both countries and also the brain behind the government’s nuclear and strategic postures.

External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh described him as an “outstanding member of the foreign service endowed with an analytical mind and powerful intellect.”

“It will be very difficult to replace him,” he said.

As foreign secretary to then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, Dixit was closely involved in drawing up a successful strategy that saw the country emerging from economic chaos as well as diplomatic isolation following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War era.

“We were selling our gold to sustain (ourselves). Yet to maintain national dignity and security and our nuclear option, despite the stated policy of the (U.S. president Bill) Clinton’s administration to cap the program was one of his many successes,” said G. Parthsarathy, a former high commissioner to Pakistan and Australia.

After retiring as foreign secretary in 1994, Dixit had become a prolific author and columnist.

He was vice chairman of the Congress Party’s Foreign Affairs Department and authored the party’s security and foreign policy manifesto that the present government is largely following.

In a diplomatic career spanning nearly four decades, which boasted of many highlights in India’s foreign policy, Dixit was among India’s first diplomats to be posted to Bangladesh in 1971 after the country’s independence. He had the unique distinction of having served as top Indian envoy in all neighboring countries except the Maldives.

Even the starch and polish of the top brass of the Indian military was not untouched by his personality. He was the only foreign secretary who was given a farewell by the joint chiefs of staff when he retired as foreign secretary in 1994.

Dixit succeeded Brajesh Mishra, who had combined the powerful post of national security advisor with the office of principal secretary to the prime minister in the National Democratic Alliance government, which was voted out in the April-May polls.

Known to the diplomatic community and his peers by his nickname Mani, the pipe-smoking, blunt-speaking Dixit, revered by peers and critics for his brilliant intellect, had the last say among prime ministerial aides on a range of key issues straddling internal and external security, including defense and foreign affairs, home and finance. He, along with Principal Secretary T.K.A. Nair and Special Adviser on Intelligence M.K. Narayanan, formed a trinity of aides who briefed the prime minister every morning.

Returning to the top echelons of the government after over a decade, Dixit told friends that he felt the strain of holding charge of such an onerous assignment though intellectually he immensely enjoyed the challenge of a job that also included being the executive head of the nuclear command and control authority.

Born in Madras (now Chennai) in 1936, Dixit had a postgraduate degree in international law and international relations. He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1958 and was a part of the foreign policy and security establishment and a close observer of it for over 36 of its 55 years.

Warm tributes and condolences poured in from several parts of the world, including from most South Asian countries. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell spoke to External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh over telephone from Bangkok to offer his condolences over the death of Indian National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit. Powell was visiting Southeast Asian countries to mourn victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami tragedy.

A Malayali with a love for Hindi and Urdu poetry, Dixit recited a few lines from an old Mohammad Rafi song to Indian Foreign Service officers before laying down office as foreign secretary on Jan. 31, 1994:

“Banta hai mera kaam tumhare hi kam se

Hota hai mera naam tumhare hi nam se

(If tasks were known as having been completed, it was because all of you performed them well. If as a result some acclaim or reputation has come my way, it actually belongs to you).”

Images
J.N. Dixit, right, on his arrival at South Block to take charge as National Security Advisor in New Delhi on May 27, 2004. (Photo: Courtesy, Press Information Bureau)	Dixit with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar, left, in New Delhi on June 28, 2004. (Photo: Courtesy, Press Information Bureau)
PHOTO LEFT, President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, right, pays tributes to National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit in New Delhi on Jan. 3. (Photo: AFP) PHOTO RIGHT, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh places a wreath on the body of Dixit. (Photo: Courtesy, Press Information Bureau)