Natwar Singh, a renowned Indian diplomat and politician, noted about Pakistani diplomats in his autobiography, One Life is not Enough: “The quality of Pakistani diplomats cannot be questioned. They are a formidable group, and their best are as good as our best. For some Pakistani diplomats, the Foreign Service was both a cause and a career and, for a handful, it was a crusade. I developed a healthy respect for the diplomatic sophistication and subtlety of Sahibzada Yaqub Ali Khan, Agha Shahi, Abdus Sattar, to name a few.”

Mr Singh then proceeds to put down reasons for the high regard he held Pakistani diplomats in: “Keeping the Kashmir question alive on the international agenda for so long needed determination and skill. Even greater was their achievement in maintaining excellent relations with China and the US, at India’s expense. That, too, when Americans were dead opposed to Mao’s China between 1962 and 1971.”

I will add a few names here: Syed Amjad Ali, Jamshed Marker, Dr Tanvir Ahmad Khan, Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, Shamshad Ahmad Khan, Munir Akram and Zulfiqar Gardezi. But the heyday of Pakistani diplomacy seems over. The author of Hostility laments this fact. After having read Hostility: A Diplomat’s Diary on Pakistan-India Relations and More, I have been persuaded to put its author, Abdul Basit, in the same league. Brilliance oozes out of his words. I was lucky to have once met him. The difference between him and his peers was stark.

Despite giving vent to a few personal grudges, which is not usual among officers in the superior corps, the book undoubtedly is un-put-down-able, as British writers say in certain cases. To be fair, Basit did get a raw deal from his superiors and from the prime minister, who after offering him the coveted position of foreign secretary, backed out.

Why did he do that? Basit has dilated on that, divulging some of the vested interests and favouritism. Obviously, that left a bitter taste in the author’s mouth, and it was natural for him to be acerbic here and there. The book is also an indictment of two acolytes of the then prime minister, who peddled their personal influence to promote and project their favourites.

At the beginning of the book, he states that Hostility not only addresses in specific terms the hostile relations between Pakistan and India but also divulges how non-professionalism and personal grudges leave the art of diplomacy in disarray and, in turn, harm state interests. It is a requiem on the Foreign Office’s decadence, inanity and a sheer lack of professionalism. It may also serve as a wake-up call for the current diplomatic corps.

An alumnus of Edwards College, Peshawar, and Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Abdul Basit took his career in Foreign Service as a cause, a career, and a crusade. While serving as a high commissioner in New Delhi it was more than a crusade. He says, “Some in Pakistan and many in India continue to hold me responsible for not being able to build on the Modi-Sharif meeting. In fact, I am blamed, especially in India, for deliberately undermining the significant opportunities that had arisen.”

That probably was the reason he was the envoy most frequently summoned to the Indian Foreign Office (South Block) to face tongue lashing, which he took with grit and gumption. He never flinched and would say what needed to be said. Holding talks with the most hawkish Hindutva leaders, explicating Pakistan’s position on the core issue of Kashmir and other impediments in the improvement of mutual relations in India’s reputed newspapers.

He also remained in touch with the Kashmiri leadership, including Syed Ali Gilani and Mir Waiz Omer Farooq. He remained unperturbed in the face of pointed questions from the Indian media. That obviously needed fortitude and sagacity typical of a seasoned diplomat. For this, he was branded as uncompromisingly hawkish towards his host country (India) and “the most bellicose Pakistan high commissioner in India ever”.

It was alleged that instead of building bridges, Basit complicated the situation by exacerbating bilateral animosity. It was suggested that the two prime ministers were ready to break the ice and have cordiality in the relations but Basit acted as a spoiler at the behest of the Pakistani establishment.

In this book he has clarified his position. He says that during his tenure he did what he thought was “in the best interest of Pakistan and in sync with the strategic framework of Pakistan’s India policy.” One tends to agree with the author that in the business of diplomacy multiple dependent and independent variables give certain configurations to inter-state relations. If the relationship between two states is embedded in hostility and mistrust, the space for diplomatic maneuver is limited. The positions on certain issues are deeply entrenched so that showing flexibility even at the tactical level becomes highly controversial.

Pakistan and India have faced this dilemma right from the moment of their independence. Of course, one must be mindful of the subtle line between national interest and bilateral inter-state relations. Constructive dialogue over the issue of Kashmir is a way forward. But revoking Article 370 and 35A and obliterating the special status of Kashmir has made matters harder for the diplomats.

Basit has also shed light on the close relationship between Sharif and India’s steel tycoon, Sajjan Jindal of JSW Group of Companies, underscoring how close Jindal was to the Pakistani prime minister. On one occasion, he says, the Pakistani high commissioner learnt about the prime minister’s travel plans and whereabouts in India from Jindal. Sajjan Jindal’s surreptitious visit to Murree and Lahore became a heated subject of debate and a media flashpoint. Basit holds that abstaining from meeting Kashmiri leaders to please Narendra Modi reflected weakness on Sharif’s part. Also, reaching out to the Indian government through India’s high commissioner in Islamabad rather than the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi and Foreign Office, he contends, did not reflect well on the prime minister.

The book is written in a lucid and accessible style. I enjoyed reading it partly because of its language. I urge all students of history, politics, Pakistan studies and diplomatic studies to read it with care. The book deserved a better title.