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particularly of the city of Jerusalem, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, is a
matter of utmost concern. The shocking incident of setting fire to the
ancient shrine of al-Aqsa, which came as the most recent climax, makes it all
the more imperative that the Security Council’s resolution, calling upon
Israel to vacate this aggression, should be implemented. We sincerely hope
and pray that the deliberations of this Conference will lead to the conclusion
of the grave crisis which exists in West Asia. India as always, will be prepared
to play its part in seeking such as solution. (Pasha 1995 , 193)He informed the conference that the leader of the Indian delegation
was on his way and would join the deliberations later that day.
General Yahya Khan, the military ruler who represented Pakistan,
found the presence of the Sikh diplomat at the Islamic summit incongru-
ous and bizarre and objected to India’s presence. He refused to take part
in the deliberations until India’s withdrawal or removal. He would not
budge even after the arrival of the Muslim minister from India. This led to
a crisis and organizers, especially Saudi Arabia, resorted to hectic media-
tory efforts to placate Yahya Khan.
To soothe Pakistani objections, Ahmad was asked to participate as
‘observer’ and not as a full member. Alternatively, it was suggested that
‘Muslim community’ and not the government of India would be repre-
sented. Conceding to such demands meant ceding sovereign rights to oth-
ers in determining who represented the country in international forums
and India refused to participate as an observer (Singh 2006 ). Indeed, the
second day of the conference was spent in entirety towards working out a
face-saving formula that would pacify Pakistan but would also be honour-
able to India. However, having made Islam its core identity and foreign
policy instrument since 1947, Pakistan could not accept to be a part of an
Islamic forum with India as a full member. That would have challenged
the historical legacy of Pakistan and its claims to be the representative of
the Muslims of British India.
While Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was subsequently elected President of
India in August 1974, the Rabat summit proved to be a major humiliation
for India. ‘Gate crashing,’ ‘snub’ and abandonment of secularism were
some of the expressions used to describe its eagerness to participate in the
explicitly pan-Islamic meet. Reflecting on the diplomatic fallouts, former
Indian Foreign Secretary J. N. Dixit lamented, “We botched up the
opportunity by indulging in an impractical exercise in assertive secularism
by deciding to depute our Sikh Ambassador in Morocco to represent India
P. R. KUMARASWAMY AND MD. M. QUAMAR