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