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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Arundhati Ghose, diplomat who led India’s CTBT talks, dies at 76
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Arundhati Ghose, diplomat who led India’s CTBT talks, dies at 76

Arundhati Ghose, who grew up in Mumbai and went on to join the Indian Foreign Service in 1963, also had a key role in backing the Bangladesh government in exile in 1971

Arundhati Ghose’s no-nonsense approach besides razor sharp intellect crafted her reputation as a highly capable and formidable diplomat. Photo: HT PhotoPremium
Arundhati Ghose’s no-nonsense approach besides razor sharp intellect crafted her reputation as a highly capable and formidable diplomat. Photo: HT Photo

New Delhi: Arundhati Ghose, seen as the key voice and face of Indian diplomacy at a time when India was under intense pressure in 1996 to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) that prohibits the testing of nuclear weapon, died overnight on Tuesday.

She was 76 and died of cancer, according to PTI.

News of her demise was broken by her niece, journalist Sagarika Ghose, on Twitter on Tuesday morning.

“Arundhati Ghose, former diplomat & Ambassador passed away earlier tonight. She was head of Indian delegation at CTBT conf in Geneva. RIP," said Sagarika’s post.

CTBT came into force in 1996 and prohibits the testing of nuclear weapons in the air, water or on land.

Born in 1940, Ghose grew up in Mumbai and went on to join the Indian Foreign Service in 1963. Her sister is Ruma Pal, a former Supreme Court judge, and her brother is Bhaskar Ghose, also a well-known officer with the Indian Administrative Service who was the head of public broadcaster Prasar Bharti.

At work, Ghose’s no-nonsense approach besides razor sharp intellect crafted her reputation as a highly capable and formidable diplomat.

Those who served with her or crossed paths recalled her as “combative" and “never afraid to speak her mind."

“The only guiding principle for you would be India’s national interest. Nothing else. If you think something is wrong, refuse to carry out the order. National interest must never be compromised," a Twitter post by Vivek Kumar, deputy secretary in prime minister’s office, recalled her as telling him. Kumar was interviewed by Ghose in her capacity as Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) member in 2004.

During the course of her career spanning 34 years, Ghose served in various capacities in the ministry of external affairs and in India’s missions abroad in Austria, the Netherlands, Bangladesh and the Permanent Mission of India in New York.

She also headed by the new economic relations division of the ministry as additional secretary in the early 1990s. This came against the backdrop of India launching market reforms in 1991.

Little known is the role she played during 1971, before the war between India and Pakistan that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh. As liaison officer in-charge, Ghose was instrumental in supporting the government of Bangladesh in exile.

“Amb Arundhati Ghose: brilliant officer; 1 of India’s finest diplomats; recd #Bangladesh @Freedom Award 4 role in ‘71," said Harsh Vardhan Shringla, India’s high commissioner to Bangladesh, in a Twitter post.

But Ghose is remembered most for her stint as the head of the Indian delegation to the UN’s Conference of Disarmament in Geneva in the mid-1990s.

“She was at the cutting edge of protecting India’s national security interest at a very difficult time," said a senior Indian diplomat who worked at the Indian mission in Geneva with Ghose in the 1990s.

The year was 1996—a year after the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was extended indefinitely, 25 years after it entered into force in 1970.

National elections in 1996 had thrown up a fractured verdict and a motley group comprising of non Congress and non Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) political parties had formed government with Prime Minister Deve Gowda at the helm after an unsuccessful attempt by the BJP.

India and its fragile government faced immense pressure from the then US administration headed by Bill Clinton to join the CTBT given that India was considered as a “threshold" nuclear state along with Pakistan and Israel—ie countries with the potential or capability of testing atomic weapons.

However, domestic opinion in India was firmly against signing the CTBT “which would have completely restricted India’s options if we had agreed to sign the treaty," said the diplomat cited above.

“India’s position was that we would be able to consider the CTBT if it was a step towards nuclear disarmament, we wanted that written into the treaty," recalled the diplomat.

Handpicked by the Deve Gowda’s predecessor Congress prime minister Narasimha Rao, in 1995 as India’s ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Ghose “was there defending India’s interest at this point," the diplomat said.

It was also at a time when India’s traditional supporters—ie from the Non Aligned Movement left India’s side, thanks to the pressure wielded by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council who were also the five recognised nuclear weapon states.

“In 1996, India had no option but to stand alone and India’s views at this point were strongly and purposefully articulated by Ms Ghose," said a second diplomat who too worked with Ghose in the early 1990s.

Strengthening Ghose’s hand was the complete backing of the Indian parliament and the national position holding steady despite the piling on of pressure by the US.

India ultimately blocked the CTBT in Geneva but it went on to be adopted by the UN General Assembly in the same year, bringing it into force.

But what is remembered by Indian diplomats is how Ghose closed India’s argument at the UN: “Mr. President I would like to declare on the floor of this August assembly that India will never sign this unequal treaty—not now, not later."

It is a position that India espouses two decades later.

According the first Indian diplomat cited above, India’s CTBT campaign “represented one of the finest moments of Indian diplomacy" when national interest was placed above all else.

Post retirement Ghose was a regular at seminars and conferences on foreign policy issues. She also served as a member of the UPSC from 1998 to 2004.

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Published: 26 Jul 2016, 10:49 PM IST
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