MEA sidestepped

In a summit meant to tackle the worst economic crisis that has hit the world in a long time and where India would play a key role, the Ministry of External Affairs thought it would be the natural nodal point for all discussions. However, the assumption was way off the mark. Much to the irritation of many of its top officials, the MEA was kept quite in the periphery. In anticipation, embassies had been asked to send detailed dispatches on what other countries were saying and doing. All of it came to a nought when the PM chose to keep Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Montek Singh Ahluwalia by his side. A sulking MEA now says it will do nothing more than give benign inputs for the time being. In fact, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon did not even accompany the PM to Washington.