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Krishnan Srinivasan

Krishnan Srinivasan
Srinivasan in 2024
Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs
In office
1995–2002
19th Indian Foreign Secretary
In office
1 February 1994 – 28 February 1995
Preceded byJ N Dixit
Succeeded bySalman Haider
Personal details
Born15 February 1937 (1937-02-15) (age 87)
Madras
SpouseBrinda
ChildrenRohan
OccupationDiplomat and scholar

Krishnan Srinivasan (born 15 February 1937) is a former Foreign Secretary of India and Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations. Alongside his diplomatic career, Srinivasan has published memoirs, scholarly works on international relations, and the Ambassador Marco series of crime novels. His observations on the status and values of the Commonwealth of Nations, in The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (2005),[1] provoked debate about the organisation's future direction.

Indian Foreign Service

Srinivasan was born in Madras (now Chennai). Following an education in England at Bedford School and Christ Church, Oxford he joined the Indian Foreign Service in May 1959. His early postings included Oslo and Beirut, and then as India's Chargé d'Affaires in Tripoli. He was Ambassador/High Commissioner to Zambia, Botswana, Nigeria, Benin, Cameroon, The Netherlands and Bangladesh, before being appointed Secretary and finally Foreign Secretary of India in 1994.

Srinivasan published the week-by-week diaries that he maintained as High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh during the period 1989-1992, as The Jamdani Revolution; Politics, Personalities and Civil Society in Bangladesh (2007).[2] It covers the period when civil society brought down General Ershad, in the first-ever overthrow of a military-backed regime in South Asia. The work is also notable for throwing a "candid light on the day-to-day activities of an Indian envoy, his actions with and without instructions from New Delhi, and the frustrations with headquarters that characterize the experience of every ambassador".[3]

In 2012, Srinivasan published Diplomatic Channels, an "exceptionally frank memoir of his tenure as Foreign Secretary [including] his impressions of the personalities he encountered, and the topics in foreign policy that arose in the early 1990s".[4][5]

Commonwealth of Nations

In 1995, Srinivasan was appointed Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs in London.

In 2002, after completing the maximum allowed two terms as Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, Srinivasan began a number of academic fellowships, including at Wolfson College and the Centre for International Studies in Cambridge and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London. This period culminated in the publication of The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (2005).[1]

A masterly and properly controversial assessment of the contemporary Commonwealth [...] This wide-ranging, unsentimental and sometimes provocative analysis of the post 1945 Commonwealth will be essential reading for students of the decline and fall of the British and other European empires, and the post colonial order, and also for all those interested in the contemporary Commonwealth's attempt to define a role for itself in world politics.

— James Mayall, Professor of International Relations (Emeritus), University of Cambridge. Review of The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (2005)[6]

There was a strong reaction, in some quarters, to the book and associated journal articles,[7] which helped to re-invigorate the contemporary debate over the Commonwealth's purpose and future direction.[8][9]

The Ambassador Marco novels

The novels follow the career of Somali Ambassador Michael Marco, thus named because he was born in Italian Somaliland. He is first a lawyer, then appointed by the Somali dictator as ambassador to Southern Africa, where he is engaged in helping the liberation forces against apartheid South Africa. Dismissed by the Somali authorities, he joins the UN as OAU ambassador, and investigates the rumoured development of an atomic bomb by Libya. In Britain, he unravels the disappearance of several African ambassadors, and moving to India pursuing research as a retired diplomat, Marco solves the mystery of a missing Indian film crew in Sweden, prevents conflict between India and Pakistan and becomes the confidant to a young but physically handicapped female private detective.

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Non-fiction: Memoirs

Works of commentary on Srinivasan's diplomatic experiences, personalities encountered and topics of foreign policy.

  • Tricks of the Trade: or, Diplomacy, Day by Day (2000)[10]
  • The Jamdani Revolution; Politics, Personalities and Civil Society in Bangladesh (2007)[2]
  • Diplomatic Channels (2012)[4]

Non-fiction: Foreign Policy

Scholarly works dealing with Indian and global foreign policy issues and institutions.

  • The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth (2005)[11]
  • Towards the New Horizon: World Order in the 21st Century (2009)[12]
  • Europe in Emerging Asia: Opportunities and Obstacles in Political and Economic Encounters (2015)[13]
  • Old Europe, New Asia (2015)[14]
  • Values in Foreign Policy, Investigating Ideals and Interests (2019)[15][16][17]
  • Power, Legitimacy and World Order: Changing Contours of Preconditions and Perspectives (2023)[18]

Fiction

Poetry and Short Stories

  • Selections in Two Keys (1974)[19]
  • The Water's Edge & Other Stories (1980)[20]

The Ambassador Marco crime novels

  • The Eccentric Effect (2001)[21]
  • The Ugly Ambassador (2003)[22]
  • Guesswork (2005)[23]
  • The Invisible African (2012)[24]
  • Ambassador Marco's Indian Instincts (2016)[25]
  • The Ambassador and the Private Eye (2021)[26]
  • Right Angle to Life (2024)[27]

Newspapers and Journals

He has written over 500 columns and book reviews, on international affairs and other subjects, for Indian media platforms, including: Deccan Herald,[28] The Hindu,[29] News9,[30] The Open, The Telegraph,[31] The Statesman,[32] and The Wire.

References

  1. ^ a b Srinivasan, K. (2005). The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 9780230248434. Retrieved 19 August 2024. "This book provides a unique and far-reaching exploration of the Commonwealth, and its impact since the Second World War on Britain's adjustment to a world without Empire. Wither the Commonwealth now? What are its achievements; the benefits of membership in terms of collective political influence, trade, investment, aid, travel and education? Can any practical good be envisaged for this post-colonial organization?" (Publisher's note).
  2. ^ a b Srinivasan, Krishnan (2008). The Jamdani Revolution: Politics, Personalities, and Civil Society in Bangladesh, 1989-1992. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 9788124113790.
  3. ^ "The Jamdani Revolution : Politics, Personalities and Civil Society in Bangladesh 1989-1992". Rokomari online bookshop. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b Srinivasan, Krishnan (2012). Diplomatic channels. New Delhi: Manohar. ISBN 9788173049682. Publisher's Note: [An] exceptionally frank memoir of his tenure as Foreign Secretary [including] his impressions of the personalities he encountered, and the topics in foreign policy that arose in the early 1990s.
  5. ^ "Diplomatic potpourri that defies categories". The Hindu. 15 October 2012. An interesting, eclectic work which is difficult to categorise; it is part-memoir, part-serious critique of foreign policy and it even includes a short story. [...] What distinguishes Srinivasan's narrative is a set of his brief but candid pen-portraits of his political bosses which include two presidents, a foreign minister, two ministers of state and the Prime Minister himself.
  6. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2019). 'The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth': Reviews. doi:10.1057/9780230248434. ISBN 978-0-230-20367-9. Retrieved 19 August 2024. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  7. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2006). "Nobody's Commonwealth? The Commonwealth in Britain's post-imperial adjustment". Commonwealth & Comparative Politics. 44 (2): 257–269. doi:10.1080/14662040600831727. Retrieved 19 August 2024. Britain retains substantial Commonwealth infrastructure because there is no one else prepared to pick up the torch and attempt to revitalise the association […] it has become nobody's Commonwealth.
  8. ^ Mcintyre, W. David (2007). "Whose Commonwealth? Responses to Krishnan Srinivasan's The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth". The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs. 96 (388): 57–70. doi:10.1080/00358530601167335. Retrieved 19 August 2024. From the abstract: Krishnan Srinivasan's provocative book The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth is the first full-length study of the Commonwealth for some years. The Round Table invited five leading Commonwealth scholars and activisits to respond from varying perspectives. They find the book stimulating and irritating in equal measure. The debate is set to continue.
  9. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2019). Reviews: The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth. doi:10.1057/9780230248434. ISBN 978-0-230-20367-9. Retrieved 19 August 2024. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Srinivasan, K. (2000). Tricks of the trade : or, Diplomacy, day by day. London, United Kingdom: Royal Over-Seas League. p. 96. ISBN 9780850925869. Retrieved 19 August 2024. "Details the tricks of diplomacy and how the reader can adapt them to advantage in daily life."
  11. ^ Srinivasan, K. (2005). The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan UK. ISBN 9780230248434. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  12. ^ Mayall, James B. L.; Srinivasan, Krishnan (2009). Towards the new horizon: world order in the 21st century. New Delhi: Standard Publishers, India. ISBN 978-81-87471-50-9.
  13. ^ Erixon, Fredrik; Srinivasan, Krishnan, eds. (2015). Europe in emerging Asia: opportunities and obstacles in political and economic encounters. London: Rowman & Littlefield International. ISBN 978-1-78348-227-6.
  14. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2016). Old Europe, New Asia. New Dehli, India: Pentagon Press. ISBN 9788182748545.
  15. ^ Srinivasan, K.; Mayall, J.; Pulipaka, S. (2019). Values in foreign policy : investigating ideals and interests. London, United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield International Ltd. p. 293. ISBN 9781786607492. Retrieved 19 August 2024. "This books throws light on whether Asian values constitute a specific genre that differentiates Asia from the West and feeds into its nations' foreign policies, and whether there is a basic difference of opinion on values or merely an aspect of contemporary power politics"-- Provided by publisher
  16. ^ Williams, Andrew J. (2020). "Book review: Values in foreign policy: investigating ideals and interests". The Round Table - The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.
  17. ^ Bhatia, Rajiv (2019). "'Values in Foreign Policy' review: At home in the world". The Hindu. Retrieved 19 August 2024. With the West losing its ability to set the rules of global order, what matters to nations is the dominance of interests over values, argue foreign policy experts
  18. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan; Mayall, James; Pulipaka, Sanjay (24 February 2023). Power, Legitimacy, and World Order: Changing Contours of Preconditions and Perspectives (1 ed.). Routledge India. ISBN 978-1-003-38523-3.
  19. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (1974). Selections in Two Keys. India: Writers Workshop. ISBN 9780892535484.
  20. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (1980). The Water's Edge & Other Stories. India: Writers Workshop.
  21. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2001). The Eccentric Effect. New Delhi: Harper Collins Publishers India. ISBN 978-8172234294.
  22. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2003). The Ugly Ambassador. Har Anand Publications Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9788124109335.
  23. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2005). Guesswork. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 9788124110621.
  24. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2012). The Invisible African. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 9788124116814.
  25. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2017). Ambassador Marco's Indian Instincts. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 9788124119723.
  26. ^ The Ambassador and the Private Eye. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. 2021. ISBN 9789388409940.
  27. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (2024). Right Angle to Life. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 9788119798711.
  28. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan. "The US-China trade 'war'". Deccan Herald.
  29. ^ Srinivasan, Krishnan (6 August 2024). "A shift in the U.S. to autocratic trends". The Hindu.
  30. ^ "Explained: British politics after the local elections". News9live. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  31. ^ "US democracy under duress". The Telegraph. Kolkata. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  32. ^ "The Statesman Delhi – The Statesman epaper dated Thu, 22 Jun 23". epaper.thestatesman.com. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  • 32 minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire in 2021, which discussed India's diplomatic relationship with The Taliban.
  • A brief interview at the Kolkata Book Festival in 2022.
  • A brief discussion of Srinivasan's novel ′The Ambassador and the Private Eye′ at the Jaipur Literary Festival in 2022.
  • A 48 minute panel discussion entitled ′Nonfiction Literature - Mirror to Reality. Challenges of Making Nonfiction Interesting′ at the Mysuru Literary Festival in 2024.
  • 30 minute interview with Karan Thapar for The Wire in 2024, entitled ′Mistake for Modi to plan Ukraine visit′.
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