Top Cop To Top Diplomat

Former Commissioner of Police, Mumbai and more recently India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Javed Ahmad reflects on changing political relationships

POLICING in India or a big state like Maharashtra or a metropolitan area like Mumbai is a challenge. This is not just because of the number of people, but also the rollercoaster nature of our vibrant democracy. We have a vibrant media and a plethora of NGOs looking at the governance. Therefore, it is a challenge as well as a boon to get a lot of feedback to improving things. Mumbai is probably the safest city because of Mumbai and Maharashtra Police.

In 2002, we did a big study with McKinsey which has now become part of governance and lead to Citizen Facilitation Centres (CFC) or Nagarik Suvidha Kendra. Under this, we covered all the services not covered under law e.g. music performance licences, arms licences, restaurant licences etc. Overnight, it changed the perspective about the Mumbai police. This study became bigger and provided easier and faster services.

The other thing we began was interacting with the public via the Twitter account of the Mumbai Police. Except for Bengaluru, no other city had a robust Twitter account. It was a bit of a challenge because knowing the Mumbaikars, media, NGOs, we could be roasted. But we took the plunge in November- December 2015 and, today, the largest number of followers of any government Twitter handle is of Mumbai police with over 4 million people.

In terms of security, Mumbai has had its unfair share in the 90s or 2003’s series of bomb blasts, and also the terrorist attack of 26/11. I have found large improvements in the city and the people’s involvement to make it safer counts. In hindsight, most of the diplomacy that I learned was from Maharashtra and Maharashtra Police.

Presently, the relationship between India and Saudi Arabia is at an all-time high. Since last week, we have seen that there is something or the other happening in the Middle East that has the potential to blow up at a violent level. It affects us as the Indian diaspora in these countries is so huge. For example, Saudi Arabia is two-thirds the size of India but had about 3 million Indians at its peak. Last year, if I am not wrong, about 11 million dollars came from Saudi Arabia as revenue. So, if there is an upheaval in these areas, it will impact the local Indians and they will need to be relocated. It happened in Kuwait and Yemen three years ago when we successfully evacuated Indians as well as foreigners.

Saudi Arabia is the head, in terms of GCC and it plays a major role in OPEC. In the last two years, they have also been a big player along with the non-OPEC countries in stabilising the prices of oil which had dipped, four years ago, to $30 per barrel from $100-150. Now it has stabilised to $60-68.

The third perspective of Saudi Arabia is that they have started looking at the East as a way to diversify their international policy. India features very highly in this regard. The way they look at India is vastly larger than what we perceive being inside. Therefore, the expectation from India as a country or a power is much bigger than all these years. This has been taken up by the present government. The kind of chemistry the prime minister has with the crown prince… When I was leaving, there was a function of the Indian diaspora. The waiter at the five-star hotel came to me and said that he had never been more proud of being Indian than in the last three years because of what India means to these places. That is largely because of the leadership and the response of the Indian Government to Indians in any trouble abroad.

If we get a call from a person that he is distressed in the middle of the desert, we respond in 24 hours if not earlier. This is because a large part was played by Mrs. Sushma Swaraj who increased the level of response across the world. There was an Indian family travelling via Saudi Arabia to America and their passport was damaged in transit. We got a new passport delivered to them at the airport by a simple tweet that: ‘if I don’t get the passport rectified now my entry to the US at the immigration would not be possible.’ This would not have been possible earlier.

Therefore, because of our successful evacuation of many Indians from Yemen, the ambassadors would informally talk that if they wanted to be evacuated, they would like to be evacuated with us because if it is India, it would be safe. This is the kind of difference.

Four years ago, the Saudi Royals were looking at the investment from the sovereign funds for infrastructure and the figure that had come was a few hundred million US dollars. When the crown prince visited in February, he left on the table 100 billion dollars as a beginning. One of the biggest reasons is the kind of chemistry the leadership has.

What is your perception about the weather in Saudi Arabia? Hot? Desert? Six months of the year Saudi Arabia is pleasant – more pleasant and most pleasant. From November onwards, you have to switch off the AC. You go as low as 2° to 0° degree temperature at night from November to April. The sun is beautiful. There are days you have to put on the heating. The fruits and vegetables you get – the best annar, figs, olives, oranges.

The restrictions on women have been minimised. We now see many women in the workplace, driving under the governance of new crown prince. From Infrastructure to processes, a 300 billion dollar new city has come up on the Red Sea with SEZ.

I would like to see a lot of Indians in the Red Sea tourism project.

OYO has struck a beautiful deal in Saudi Arabia by simply projecting what is the best requirement for their country. Saudi Arabia has also become economically conscious that they cannot splurge money. Therefore, they would like to spend money on things that give them value for money. Lastly, the services – defence – in which we have a big role.

So, what do the Indian embassy and the Saudi Arabian embassy do? Like most embassies, we go in for diplomacy which is our bread and butter, to increase our relationship and engagement. We have an Indian diaspora with which there is always some or the other issue. We have the Haj operations and arrangement has to be made by the Indian mission on the ground which can be a huge challenge. The Indian embassy is involved in indirectly running 10 Indian international schools catering to Indians. The largest Indian school in the Eastern side has 16,000 kids in one school, the second had 12,000, and Riyadh had 10,000. So, you are looking at universities of schools. And I have not seen politics anywhere in India as much as I have seen in these schools. Sometimes, even to get a person out of jail is a challenge.

However, the experience as the Indian ambassador was that of a great honour and pleasure. The most satisfying part is the level of national engagement. What we have achieved as a country – it can only go forward and not slide back. If you can, grab it, because it is a very happening place. Saudis love Indians.