Clarity and confidence to the rescue in a delicate situation

In 1981, as Secretary to the Vice President of India I accompanied Justice Hidayatullah to Canada on an official visit. Dr Gurdial Singh Dhillion was India’s High Commissioner in Canada. Our itinerary took us on a visit to Chateau Montebello, near Quebec, the venue of a recent G7 summit attended among others by Ronald Reagan, (US President), Francois Mitterrand, (French Premier), Pierre Trudeau, (Canadian Prime Minister) and Margaret Thatcher, (British Prime Minister).

En route we were crossing a river on a punt. The High Commissioner walked up to the car in which I was travelling, peeped in and asked “who is the Secretary to the Vice President?” I was in between two other people and raised my hand much like a pupil in a classroom.

“You don’t appear to have knowledge of the fundamentals of protocol”, he said, and walked away. I jumped out of the car, smoke coming out of my ears, wondering where I had gone wrong.

When I asked him what the matter was, Dhillion said that, as I might have noticed, in the carcade from Ottawa to Quebec, his car was trailing the Canadian Protocol Car which, in turn, was behind the Vice President’s car. He was agitated that he was unable to fly the Indian flag on his car since the Canadian Protocol vehicle was ahead of his car.

Firmly but very politely, I replied that, while I had a limited knowledge of these matters, there were two things that I wished to point out. Firstly, we were in his jurisdiction - in a country to which he was our High Commissioner - and it was he who put the car plan in place in consultation with the Canadian Government. The Vice President’s staff had no role.

We simply went by whatever arrangements had been made. Secondly, just as in a parade, (where the parade commander alone salutes, the VIP had the flag, while the rest of the parade comes to attention) in a carcade the leading car, alone, flies the flag; the Vice President’s car was flying two flags; as is the custom - Canadian as well as Indian.

And that was the correct protocol in my understanding. Dhillion who enjoyed the status and rank of a Cabinet Minister, appeared unconvinced and perhaps protested to the Vice President. That he brought the matter to the notice of the Vice President and reported also to the Government of India, was only made known to me indirectly at a later date.

However, I was neither called upon to furnish my explanation subsequently, nor was my understanding of the protocol found fault with. Sound homework plays an important role in the handling of delicate and sensitive matters. Confidence and clarity of thought are invaluable assets in unforeseen situations.