Seoul Curry

So here8217;s what External Affairs minister Jaswant Singh had recently to say to Senegal8217;s ambassador to India Ahmed Mansour Diop, also the dean of Delhi8217;s diplomatic corps by virtue of living in this country for some 15 years. The scene was an 8216;Africa Day8217; reception and despite the India-Pakistan madness at the time, Singh seemed quite overcome that Senegal had beaten France. 8216;8216;Whatever you may import from us,8217;8217; said Singh to Diop, 8216;8216;I think we should import some football talent from you!8217;8217;

An UN-diplomatic Squeeze

Once again, the UN seems set to follow in the footsteps of big powers like the US and UK and is likely to revise its Phase 3 security alert against India at the end of this month. When the security guidelines8212;to relocate dependents of international staff to their home countries8212;were put in place on May 31, it seemed a bit like a diabolical plan to put pressure on India to pull back from its high-pressure strategy against Pakistan. Apart from the UN, the World Bank and Asian Development Bank also sent their dependents home, while India picked up the commercial travel costs of sending the 200-odd dependents home to their different countries.

Meanwhile, it seems that the UN has in place a special officer who will issue permission for incoming visitors and delegations to India, but only 48 hours before the date of travel. More often than not that is having the effect of visits being cancelled, exacerbating the 8216;8216;unofficial sanctions8217;8217; against India. Wonder now what the MEA is doing about that.

Who Called? Don8217;t Ask Mahathir

Malaysia, it is now well known, was the only country besides the USA, UK and Japan, to withdraw its staff during the recent crisis. So when Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed asked to recently speak to PM Vajpayee, New Delhi was all a-stir. Why? And why now? Mahathir had been quoted favouring the UN Security Council resolutions, a position that Pakistan favours, at a press conference recently in Geneva. So why did he now wish to speak to New Delhi, which has only for the last 30 years stressed the bilateral route? Anyway, the call was arranged late last week and Mahathir came on the line. His first comments, much to the amusement of officials who stood around, was, 8216;8216;Did you call me, or did I call you?8217;8217; Some days later, Mahathir was addressing a public meeting at home. And the first words to his audience went something like this. 8216;8216;Recently I spoke to General Musharraf of Pakistan on the crisis with India. Now I don8217;t know if he called me or I called him, but8230;8217;8217;

Wow, said Lally Weymouth

Lally Weymouth, the powerful senior editor and diplomatic correspondent of Newsweek magazine, was clearly impressed by A B Vajpayee. This is how a conversation between the two went last week.

8216;8216;Cross-border terrorism is still unabated,8217;8217; said the PM.
8216;8216;Wow,8217;8217; said Weymouth.
8216;8216;We have no problems if foreign journalists go to Jammu 038; Kashmir,8217;8217; said the PM.
8216;8216;Wow,8217;8217; said Weymouth, 8216;8216;I would like to go with you8230;8217;8217;
And so on. Clearly, one hack8217;s hatchet job is another8217;s roll ! model.