Laid back diplomacy

For had she gone there, she could have taken the opportunity and advantage of meeting leaders like Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, Pakistan President Parvez Musharraf and even King Gyanendra of Nepal, who were in attendance, and themselves met each other on the sidelines of the summit. With the Saarc summit on the cards and leaders of Saarc countries on hand, the occasion held out a valuable opportunity for Begum Zia to exchange notes with the top leaders of South Asia. They could have had bilateral talks away from the preoccupations of running their states.

In fact, these days it has become a favourite practice with top leaders who usually remain exceedingly busy with their state duties to have tête-à-têtes in retreats which give them a rare opportunity of unwinding themselves with a salubrious effect felt not only on bilateral affairs but also on inter- and intra-regional relationships. Our PM had so much to exchange views on, mainly with the Indian premier and Pakistani president with whom we have important issues to discuss and perceptions to share. It was all the more important because of the wind of change blowing between India and Pakistan on the one hand, and between India and China on the other, in their respective relationships.

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And most significantly taking the recent escalation of tension along the Indo-Bangla border, we have no doubt that an informal meet on the sidelines of the summit between the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh would have proved useful.

We recall that our PM could not make it to the last conference of Commonwealth heads of state and government because of some pressing circumstances. We think any such big event should not be missed; for, the absence of the topmost leader from it might send a signal across that we could be taking a nonchalant approach to high-profile diplomacy. It is in the country's best interest that we implore the prime minister to be present in international events attended by top dignitaries, especially leaders from the region.