KSR Diplomacy Diary : 1. Bilateral Diplomacy

1. Bilateral diplomacy

I am Kishan Rana. I spent 35 years in the Indian Foreign Service, and was Ambassador to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany. I specialized in the Chinese language and China affairs. I was also Consul General in San Francisco and spent one year in Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Office. Since then, I have been a distance learning teacher and Professor Ermeritus at DiploFoundation, Geneva and Malta. I have written and edited 11 books and have published about 150 articles and 100 book reviews.

http://kishanrana.diplomacy.edu
Twitter: @diplophile

We cover three main points:

First: What is bilateral diplomacy? Every country deals with foreign countries, one at a time; the relationship between a pair of countries is ‘bilateral diplomacy’. The majority of embassies located abroad are in foreign capitals, exclusively handling ties with their assignment country. They work in political, economic, cultural and other areas, to improve mutual cooperation, promote exports and improve other links with that country. The other major work area is multilateral diplomacy, working at the UN, at UN specialized agencies and other international bodies. Bilateral and multilateral work are the two legs of the international system, each connects with the other, advancing home country interests.

Second: The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations is the template and the central guide of international relations. It is a short document, which has given it the flexibility to remain relevant over the past six decades. We examine some of its main provisions, especially Article 3 that sets out the core tasks of diplomacy. Eileen Denza’s fine work Diplomatic Law examines the genesis of each article, and the way it has worked in practice.

Third: Diplomacy works on the basis of taking a ‘long view’ when problems come up between countries. We examine two examples: Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia in 1979 and how the dealt ASEAN states dealt with this, separating their firm opposition to that action, but ensuring that they also preserved a working relationship with Vietnam, as the country is an important actor in their own region (and has since become a member of ASEAN). The second example is how the Vietnam government handled its relationship with the US, putting aside the bitterness of the long-drawn, harsh war with the US, 1955-75 in which more than half-a-million Vietnamese were killed. The US is now Hanoi’s principal trading partner and a major investor.

Finally, we note that the ‘Four Pillars of Diplomatic Work are: Political, Economic, Public, and Consular & Diaspora affairs.