French cut beard, three piece suit, gleaming HMT watch in hand and black shoe… The country’s 12th Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral was often seen in this getup. In the political circles, he was recognized as a very intelligent and principled politician. In April 1997, he sat on the Prime Minister’s chair. Gujral’s tenure lasted only 13 months, but during this time he made a lot of headlines with his policies and actions.
‘Gujral principle’ and relations with neighboring countries: Gujral first started work on the foreign policy front as soon as he sat on the throne of PM. This was also his favorite subject. In his tenure, in a way, concrete initiatives were taken to improve relations with neighboring countries. This new policy was named ‘Gujral Principle’. However, Inder Kumar Gujral started laying its foundation only when he was the External Affairs Minister in the previous HD Deve Gowda government.
Denial of Signature on CTBT: The issue of Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty also heated up during Gujral’s tenure. All the powerful countries of the West including America, Britain signed this treaty. A lot of pressure was put on India too, but Gujral did not bow down. He flatly refused to sign this treaty.
Mohabbat with Urdu and poetry: Inder Kumar Gujral was a fan of shero-shayari. He had an undying love for Urdu. Senior journalist and author Rashid Kidwai writes in his book ‘Prime Minister of India’, ‘Gujral used to use Urdu indiscriminately in conversations with Pakistani leaders. He also had good relations with Nawaz Sharif.
When the two met in a meeting, Gujral had narrated these lines to Sharif from the famous poet Ali Sardar Jafri, “Don’t stop talking, talk to talk, let’s go to the evening till the morning, this starry night went on laughing at us… .’
RAW’s activity stopped: During the tenure of Inder Kumar Gujral, the PMO was the most discussed about its decision was the ban on the activity of Indian intelligence agency RAW (RAW) in Pakistan. Kidwai, quoting journalist Saikat Dutta, writes, ‘When Gujral became the PM, he called high-ranking officials of RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) to the PMO. Keeping the principle of his foreign policy in front of him, ordered to stop all activities in Pakistan. After this order of the new PM, the activity of RAW in Pakistan remained closed for years.