Former diplomat Satinder Lambah, who led backchannel talks between India and Pakistan, passes away

As Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Special Envoy to Pakistan, Lambah held secret talks with his counterpart Tariq Aziz, who had been appointed by Pakistan’s then military ruler General Parvez Musharraf. His role as a negotiator saw the relations between the two countries improve from 2004 to 2008.

During that period, India and Pakistan were said to be close to an accord on Kashmir at the time, and were reported to have exchanged a “white paper” detailing the terms. The bus services and trade between the two sides of Line of Control also began during this period.

Post the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008, the back channel sputtered on until 2014 with Pakistan’s flip flops on tracing and prosecuting the Mumbai perpetrators ensuring a virtual halt to the bilateral engagement.

He had earlier served as deputy high commissioner and high commissioner to Pakistan, and was also Joint Secretary on the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division at the Ministry of external Affairs.

Lambah also served as a special envoy to Afghanistan between 2001 to 2004, playing a major role in India’s participation in the post Taliban redevelopment of the country.

Lambah’s colleagues recall him as a self effacing but skilled diplomat. His last posting before his retirement from the Indian Foreign Service was as ambassador to Moscow from 1998 to 2001.

During the backchannel years, Lambah ensured complete secrecy about his mission.

“He was very discreet in terms of what he shared of his assessments and conclusions. As someone who was deeply engaged with Pakistan as the designated back channel contact, he remained inscrutable to outsiders,” said TCA Raghavan, who served as deputy high commissioner in Islamabad during those years and was later High Commissioner to Pakistan.

Both Lambah and his wife Nilima belonged to well connected Peshawar families, and “had a deep range of contacts in Pakistan and access to its society”, said Raghavan.

A day after he presented credentials as High Commissioner, then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif hosted a lunch for him, an unprecedented welcome for an Indian diplomat in Pakistan. Three years later, he was given a simialrly fitting farewell by Benazir Bhutto, who had succeeded Sharif as the Prime Minister by then.
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