although rarely in the public eye, fateh was a distinguished figure in the history of post-second world war, post-colonial diplomacy, a public servant who was a leading light behind the scenes within the developing world and non aligned conference, including the commonwealth, with a significant tour of duty in washington d.c. at the height of the cold war. in the west too fateh came to be held in the highest regard, a rare joint u.s.a./u.k. intelligence assessment remarking in 1977 that he was: “very able, highly intelligent, moderate, easy to deal with, and well informed”.