Words, Words, Words : Adventures in Diplomacy (Paperback)

More than just a memoir, this book is diplomatic history, a meticulously recorded account of the variety of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic negotiations in which T.P. Sreenivasan was involved, written in his inimitable style with a touch of humour.

This volume reveals the circumstances that brought India into confrontation with the rest of the Commonwealth on the question of the re-election of Sir Sridath Ramphal, the successful efforts of India during the summits in Havana and in New Delhi to preserve the principles of non-alignment, India's handling of the Iraq crisis as a member of the Security Council, and her role in tempering the reformist zeal of Boutros Ghali's Agenda of Peace'. It gives an account of India's leadership of the environment negotiations, particularly in the shaping of the Berlin Mandate on climate change; the story of the creation of the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; India's heroic efforts to strengthen UNEP, Habitat and UNIDO, in which interest had flagged; and India's struggle to turn its maverick status in the IAEA to its advantage. The complete story of the Indian efforts to reform the Security Council since 1979 is documented here. The author also provides gripping accounts of the military coups in Fiji and his expulsion after a fight for the Fiji Indians for nearly three years; the armed attack in Kenya, which left him and his wife with broken bones; and the crisis in India-US relations, which followed the nuclear tests, charting the worst and best phases of India-US relations.

Although specialization is not a strong point of the Indian Foreign Service, the author has been able to specialize in multilateral diplomacy, having dealt with various aspects of the United Nations in New York , New Delhi, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. He brings out the dynamics, indeed the magic, of multilateralism in his intimate account.