“I knew the moment I’d spoken that I’d made a blunder. I wish I hadn’t opened my mouth.” – This is what former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi told his wife, Sonia, after his remark at a press conference forced the exit of then Foreign Secretary AP Venkateswaran.

Sonia Gandhi , who later led the Congress, wrote about the episode surrounding Venkateswaran’s exit in her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, published by HarperCollins India.

“There were occasional embarrassing instances, such as his public sacking of a senior official. He was furious to learn that his foreign secretary had breached protocol and exceeded his brief during a visit to Pakistan.…