New Delhi, July 27
Known more for his sartorial elegance than elegant turn of phrase, so dear in the diplomatic firmament, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna was not an obvious choice as External Affairs Minister. He has, however, eclipsed his more erudite junior minister who was caught on a slippery IPL wicket, and his poised handling of the mine-field that Indo-Pak talks become added to his stature even as the negotiations were unsuccessful. The buzz is that Krishna is a winner.

He is conscious of his role, his strengths and limitations. He is willing to be in the shadow of the Prime Minister around whom foreign policy traditionally revolves. With predecessors like the redoubtable Pranab Mukherjee and know-all K Natwar Singh and a junior who thought he could have been the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the 78-year-old Krishna seemed to be out of his depth, initially. His replies in Parliament were far from satisfactory, and he read out from prepared texts at every interface with foreign dignitaries and the media. The BJP went to the extent of saying that the country's foreign policy was not safe in his hands.

What did Krishna do? While Shashi Tharoor, his Minister of State, shot his mouth off, Krishna, who had no experience in diplomacy, kept quiet-even in the face of Opposition barbs-and set about learning the ropes of his new assignment.

He proved to be a quick learner and very bright; he has the reputation of being a successful administrator who changed the face of Karnataka as its Chief Minister. A Fulbright scholar, who studied Law at Georgetown University, Washington DC, Krishna played a key role in the growth of the IT industry in Bangalore when he was the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Krishna was first elected to the Karnataka Assembly in 1962, on the ticket of the now-defunct Praja Socialist Party. In 1968, he was elected to the Lok Sabha. He has since served as Union Minister of State for Industry, Union Minister of State for Finance, and Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly.

Till now, the highlight of his CV was a stint as Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999-2004. One bureaucrat, who had worked closely with Krishna when he was the CM, described the foreign minister as a thorough gentleman with an excellent ability to interact with foreigners. He picked up some bright bureaucrats who helped him turn Bangalore into what it is today.

During his tenure, the Cauvery water crisis touched its nadir. Krishna organised a padayatra to Mandya to send message to Tamil Nadu that it was not possible to release Cauvery waters. More than the Cauvery issue, it was bandit Veerappan who gave sleepless nights to Krishna by abducting Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar and former minister H Nagappa. Krishna's government successfully negotiated with Veerappan to get Rajkumar released, reportedly by paying a huge ransom. However, only Nagappa's body was found in the forests. Krishna could not win the subsequent elections, and was sent on what appeared to be a gubernatorial retirement in Maharashtra. He resigned as Governor in 2008 to campaign in Karnataka, but his presence did not make much of a difference.

Krishna, who has the blessings of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, is on the ascendance now, and he shone in the way he handled the joint press conference with a belligerent Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmud Qureshi. A veteran observer rightly remarked: "Krishna has evolved as the foreign minister while Qureshi ended the press meet with egg all over his face."

The minister works hard. Apart from daily briefings from Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and other secretaries in the ministry on every critical issue, he interacts almost regularly with joint secretaries and other senior officials. He knows most of the joint secretaries by name by the very nature of their work.

Krishna's aides say his biggest plus point is that he respects others' opinion. During important meetings, he would listen patiently to everyone, without ever interrupting anyone. He does not hesitate to pick up the phone and consult others whenever necessary on what he believes are important issues.

He has the knack of making his officials feel comfortable. His aides recall how an official felt apologetic when he came 'slightly late' for a meeting convened by Krishna which had already started. The minister just smiled and told the official: "You have not come late; in fact, I came early for the meeting." Krishna had indeed come 10 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin.

Another official recalled how embarrassed he felt when he had to call on Krishna for the first time since he felt he was not properly dressed. With a sheepish look on his face, he told Krishna: "I am sorry I am not adequately dressed." To this, Krishna's prompt response was: "You are appropriately dressed but I am over-dressed." Actually, the summer was at its peak and the official was dressed in shirt and pants while the minister was wearing a sleeveless jacket too.

The minister is quite careful in ensuring that he is not putting his hosts to any inconvenience when on foreign trips. Last month when the football fever was on all over the world, he visited Mauritius, Mozambique and South Korea. He would not mind adjusting the time of his meetings if they clashed with any of the soccer matches for the convenience of his hosts. Now that's savvy soccer diplomacy!

During his 13 months in office, Krishna has travelled to nearly 30 countries across the globe. However, promoting ties with neighbouring countries as well as those in India's extended neighbourhood is something he considers most important for him. Parliament is sacrosanct, so he avoids travelling abroad whenever Parliament is in session unless it is necessary.

He is assertive when needed; he ticked off Shashi Tharoor when the junior minister questioned the tightening of visa rules by the Home Ministry. Recently, he admonished Home Secretary G K Pillai over the timing of his remark linking Pakistan's ISI with the Mumbai attacks on the eve of his Islamabad mission.

Affability, however, dominates the persona of this Krishna who ensures that the spotlight stays away from his wife and their two daughters. The family does not travel with him on his overseas official trips. Actually, some of his family members recently went to South Africa to watch the FIFA World Cup, but the MEA was kept in the dark and they did not seek any assistance from the foreign office mandarins or from the Indian High Commission there. Now, that's such an unusual behaviour among Indian politicians that it deserves to be pondered over a nice cup of cappuccino-perhaps at Cafe Coffee Day, the brain child of Krishna's son-in-law, the coffee magnate V. G. Siddhartha.