The Hindu Business Line : Diplomacy may win with diehards too

STORY so far: What I hear from Chandru in jail adds a totally new dimension to the problem. Though ours is a small company in the global context, I realise that there were bigger forces working to stifle us not so much for personal reasons but to achieve a grander purpose of furthering biological warfare. But biotech is getting a boost back home in the latest Budget, and one more plant is under construction, Gupta tells me.

Episode 23

After ordering a snack through room service, I settled down to prepare for the afternoon's appointment. I had the names of top officials in the Indian embassy whom I was supposed to meet and the purpose would be to make their work easier. They were already reasoning with the Indonesian authorities why it is necessary to release Chandru immediately and allow him to go back to India.

I arranged the slides on my PowerPoint file to have ready a presentation about the company and its profile, the customer base and financials, awards won and credentials, hoping it would all cut ice when it comes to establishing the stature of the company.

I arrived early at the embassy office, which had an imposing façade that towered as an inverted V. Sunil, one of the officers there, met me at the reception and said, "Swati, good you came early. I had to brief you about what they are looking for."

We went to his room where he told me how the Bank that had caused all the trouble seemed adamant about the money it had given us for the software. "Is it true that the package is not ready?" Sunil asked. "Some modules are over," I replied. "But they may not continue the relationship with you," he said, "after all that has happened." I nodded, "That's understandable. But what do they want." Sunil scribbled something on a paper, "They want to get back the money they had paid you. And that is this." I gasped, "A million!" He shrugged, "I have a suggestion to resolve the stalemate. Let's go to my boss's room, and we can talk over."

In the bigger room of the ambassador, there was enough to stir my nationalistic moors, the tricolour, Gandhiji's photo and so on. As if to repulse me, there were the Indonesian authorities who had come for the talks. The Foreign Affairs ministry back home had left clear instructions with the embassy here to help my company out of the crisis. And, on their side, their President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, had mandated a rapid response to ensure that there is no further damage to the country's diplomatic ties with India.

There were already enough problems involving foreign policy. A Hong Kong dateline story screamed from Jakartapost — reporting about the protest by Indonesian maids there criticising the President for imposing a temporary ban on exports of domestic helpers. On Feb 1, the government had suspended sending its workers overseas till there were programmes, including language courses, to ensure the maids improve their skills before departure. The reasoning was that their employers were either English-speaking or Chinese-speaking. There were already close to a lakh Indonesian maids in Hong Kong and the last thing they were interested in was language.

With Bush and Saddam scratching their feet, almost all country chiefs, including Megawati, had to take a stand either this way or that. Add to that the latest problem from Malaysia where they had ill-treated Indian professionals.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but it seemed the authorities there were waiting for my arrival. Though the ambassador was only playing a facilitating role, he was quite jovial. "Swati, when are you taking your man back home?" he asked laughing. "It all depends on the local authorities," I replied. "Though I have blocked tickets for tonight and tomorrow."

"Don't worry about the travel," the ambassador assured me. "There is a small hitch in the talks."

"We need a cheque from your company for 2 million rupiah," the senior among the negotiating team of Indonesians spoke. And I looked at Sunil who seemed equally astonished that the amount had swollen 100 per cent within a matter of minutes. There was great greed, I could guess, and I said, "But it will have to be decided by the arbitrators. Hope you are aware it is starting next week."

"They have a bird in hand," Sunil said to me in a hush, "and you are talking to them about two in the bush."

"I need to talk to my boss," I said, and slipped to a corner of the room to call him on the mobile.

"Swati," he sounded worried, "have they caught you also?"

"No, sir," I laughed. "They need our cheque for 2 million."

"What for?" he asked, "I am not interested in taking over the rotten Bank."

"No, as security for releasing Chandru," I explained, saying in so many words that they were not willing to wait for arbitration proceedings.

"Okay, listen carefully," said the boss. "I had envisaged this situation. One of the things that Gupta gave you at the airport was a sealed cover containing a signed blank cheque. Fill it with the required amount and leave it with the ambassador. I will talk to the minister right away." Click, the cell became silent.

By now, the ambassador had moved from his chair and proceeded to the bookrack in a corner, and I joined him there, out of the earshot of others. When I told him about the company's offer, he nodded, as if things seemed to fall in place as they should be. "Don't be worried. The cheque will remain with me till the arbitration result is out. I'm sure that will go in your favour."

Back at the table, when the ambassador was talking to his Malaysian counterpart about the latter's problem, I asked Sunil whether he enjoyed his work. "Much better than my previous job," he said. "Where?" I was curious. "Islamabad," he replied.

(To be continued)

swati_CA@hotmail.com

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