Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee is no more but his life and achievements will continue to inspire many in the years to come. Most will remember him for his shrewd political persona, deep philosophical understanding of life, poetic and lyrical usage of words, and most alluring articulations. I remember him for all that too but even more for the tremendous strategic understanding and high profile leadership he provided India at times of crisis. Political leaders are mostly remembered for the times when they were in power and how they handled it. In the case of Vajpayee it was even from the times he was not in power that one can recall his contribution to India’s destiny; that is what great leaders are made of.

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My only meeting with him was at a time when my own understanding was below base level. In a four-seat compartment in the Mussoorie Express from Dehradun to Delhi in 1982, he held forth and must have been surprised to see a rookie warrior with his mouth half open, lapping up every word he spoke. It was only in 1977 that he first tasted power after having established himself as a parliamentarian of repute. Those were again testing times with Pakistan re-emerging as a threat under its new military leadership. His visit to China in 1979 was embarrassing when it inadvertently got timed with the Chinese invasion of Vietnam. Yet, he was quick to cut it short to register India’s protest in support for its long-standing friendship with Vietnam.

The out-of-power years are more significant because they form the necessary continuum to the spells when Vajpayee headed different governments of the BJP/National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Through the period 1991-96, Vajpayee sat in the Opposition while his good friend PV Narasimha Rao headed the Congress government. It was a trying and testing period especially in international strategic affairs even as India was repositioning itself after the Cold War. The support and advice Rao received from Vajpayee regarding Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) was above party politics. In many ways India’s ability to conduct elections in J&K in 1996, just seven years after commencement of the proxy war, a record of sorts, was courtesy the cooperative handling of the situation internally and externally through the understanding between India’s two main political parties. Vajpayee came to Rao’s support just as Robin Raphael, US Assistant Secretary State, commenced her international tirade against India. The Joint Parliamentary Resolution on J&K, of February 22, 1994, could be passed because Vajpayee stood firm about bringing all parties together. He then led the Indian delegation, also comprising Salman Khurshid and Farooq Abdullah, to the first UNHRC meeting in Geneva, taking the diplomatic battle beyond Pakistan’s reach. All this, while out of power.

Vajpayee’s first act on coming to power the second time (the first being an inconsequential 13 days) in May 1998 saw the completion of Rao’s desire to break out of the US shackle and display India’s strategic independence. It was Vajpayee who took the all-important decision to clandestinely set up the testing of India’s weaponised nuclear capability with Pokharan II, May 11-13, 1998. It is to his credit again that the international sanctions against India and attempts to isolate it soon came a cropper with no lasting impact and the precedents of the Indo-US Nuclear Deal commenced even as he went into his last year in power.

Undoubtedly, the most tumultuous events during which his unfazed leadership will be long remembered, commenced with the Kargil intrusion in May 1999. Preceding that, he had already established his peace credentials with the Lahore Bus Yatra and the Lahore Declaration in February 1999. Stung by Pakistan’s backstabbing, Vajpayee’s leadership through the Kargil crisis was marked by balance and such unwavering focus that India could recover from it in a matter of three months. He came under severe criticism for holding back the Army and the Air Force from crossing the LoC but was unwilling to risk escalation at a time when the nuclear environment of the subcontinent was still unstable. He nevertheless forced the vacation of territory by Pakistan through astute combination of a military-diplomatic approach; victory was what mattered and it came India’s way, albeit costing 527 lives of our soldiers.

That triggered the chain of events. Agra Summit, Kargil Review Committee, Group of Ministers recommendations, creation of the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff and the Strategic Forces Command along with Andamans & Nicobar Command. India’s strategic outlook towards two-front threats and the sensitization towards the necessity to devote resources to infrastructure can also be traced to this time. The arrival of fast tracked acquisitions such as thermal imagers for the LoC transformed the game in J&K as did the construction of the LoC Fence. However, it was none of the physical measures which will be recalled as much as the human aspects of handling J&K. In April 2003 during a visit to Srinagar Vajpayee’s responses during an interaction led to the coinage of the most iconic slogan and perhaps the best strategic communication with the people of J&K. The issue with the people of J&K would be dealt through “Insaniyat ke Dayere Mein” (within the realm of humanism) and the approach to conflict resolution would include ‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat’ as the prime theme. This continues to remain the mantra of resolution if Pakistan ever wishes to abide by it. Vajpayee’s quiet yet powerful personality had a profound effect on Parvez Musharraf after the disruptive leadership the latter had provided to his country and brought it to almost a full scale war twice in three years – 1999-2002. From 2003 it was a different Musharraf willing to grab the olive branch repeatedly handed to him; the LoC ceasefire of November 2003 was a result of this transformation; so was his offer of the Four Point Formula, a solution which could not resonate in either society. Vajpayee had been criticised for dithering on a strategic decision to go to war during Operation Parakaram, the mobilization post Parliament attack by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in December 2001. That remains a contentious issue which can always be argued in his favor as there was no guarantee that it would have brought peace to the subcontinent.

From a strategic leadership point of view the prime lessons that emerge from the Vajpayee years are the virtues of strategic patience, balanced decision making, humanistic approach to sub conventional conflict and a cooperative vision of national interest. Vajpayee was one of the tallest leaders of his generation, if not the tallest.

The author commanded the 15 Corps in J&K and is now the Chancellor, Central University of Kashmir. Views expressed are personal.