New Delhi (IANS) Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday remembered Henry Kissinger, who passed away at the age of 100 on November 29, saying that he was immensely consequential and hugely controversial, and in 1971 he and US President Nixon created headaches for India, which were overcome by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and P.N. Haksar.
Remembering Kissinger, Congress General Secretary Ramesh in a post on X said, “Henry Kissinger has passed away. He was as immensely consequential as he was hugely controversial. In his long and eventful life he has been both celebrated and condemned. But there can be no doubt about his sheer intellectual brilliance and awesome charisma.”
“For the last three decades, he positioned himself as a great friend and supporter of India and indeed he was. But this was not always so and in 1971 especially, President Nixon and he created huge headaches for India and thought they had us cornered,” the Congress leader said.
“However, Indira Gandhi and P. N. Haksar proved more than a match for them. I have described the Kissinger-Haksar and Nixon-Indira Gandhi encounters with archival detail in my book ‘Intertwined Lives: PN Haksar and Indira Gandhi’,” he said.
He further said that Gary Bass in his book ‘The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide’ indicts Kissinger severely for his role in the events of 1971 leading up to the creation of Bangladesh.
The Congress leader’s remarks came a day after Kissinger, a controversial Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1973 and diplomatic powerhouse whose service under two presidents left an indelible mark on US foreign policy, died on Wednesday.
One of Kissinger’s enduring legacies was his role in reshaping global dynamics after World War II.
In July this year, Kissinger made a surprise visit to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In the 1970s, Kissinger was the secretary of state under Republican President Richard Nixon and worked on several global events.