Laid back diplomacy

Laid back diplomacy

To be sure, Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia was
missed by her counterparts at the Afro-Asian Summit in Jakarta.
Important heads of government and state of many countries in the
continents of Asia and Africa made themselves available for the
high-profile conference.

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.

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.
-- The Daily Star, Dhaka