The uniqueness of Kissinger was his expertise in making the impossibilities a possibility

Henry Kissinger, the US State Secretary during the Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford era, who breathed his last on Wednesday at the age of 100, was a popular person in Kerala though he had nothing to do with the State and has not visited this part of the country even once in his lifetime.

Kissinger, who is credited with a new style and art of diplomacy reigned supreme during the peak of the Cold War and was known as one of the architects of the US-China ties through Ping-Pong (Chinese term for the game of table tennis). The diplomatic ties between US and China got a shot in the arm with the Ping-Pong games between the two countries and this paved the way for the 1972 State visit to China by President Nixon.

The former State Secretary was known for his talents to make any unfriendly countries the friends of the US. For him there were no permanent friends or enemies but only permanent interests, that was the US commercial and strategic interests. Full credit should be given to Henry Kissinger for his farsightedness and visionary-like forecasts. It was Kissinger who warned the world about the impending Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism which would upset peace in Asia and cause damage to India.

While addressing the Davos Symposium on 31 January 1980, Kissinger said: “The problem of India has the component that, for India, the existence of a strong, fundamentalist, Islamic state presents problems of its own internal cohesion and may create its own incentives for war. On the other hand, if India is worried about our policies, it must give some assurances, other than rhetoric, that it will not act in collusion with the Soviet Union and that it will not cooperate in an attack on Pakistan,” said Kissinger (Henry Kissinger: For The Record).

Kissinger is also known as the person who pointed out the folly behind the Non-Aligned Movement, which he termed as a means to strengthen the hegemony of the then Soviet Union. There was no denying his hatred for socialism and communism. The Kerala media, which was quick in reacting to international developments, especially in singing paeans to Communism and comrades in the USSR and China portrayed Kissinger as a villain. The party cadre, despite their ignorance about the stance of Kissinger viz-a-viz the socialist countries, did not waste even a single opportunity to taunt and ridicule the Nobel laureate.

When the Muslim League was split in the early 1970s, the then Congress strongman K Karunakaran deputed Baby John, a leader of the RSP to negotiate with the League leadership to somehow avoid the break up in the outfit. Baby John, whose RSP was an ally of the Congress, reached Parappanangadi in Malappuram district, to broker peace between the warring factions. The CPI-M which was in the opposition, wanted the Muslim League to split so that the former would get the support of the breakaway faction. Baby John’s brief was to somehow prevent the split and keep the leadership in good humour. The day after

Baby John landed at Malappuram, CPI-M mouthpiece had this headline as the lead news: “Kerala Kissinger in Parappanangadi to broker peace in Muslim League”. But Kerala Kissinger, despite all his charming manners, failed in the mission and the League was split vertically, though only for a brief period.

(The writer is a special correspondent with the Pioneer, the views are personal)