That Missing Phone Call

As I pointed out recently , one of the things that MEA will miss are the consultation phone calls from White House. While Obama is not yet in White House, it is interesting what he refused to do.

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: In continuation of the ‘snub’ to India, US President-elect Barack Obama today spoke to Chinese President Hu Jintao. Till now, Mr Obama has returned calls to 16 world leaders, including Hu, but as reported by The Statesman on 8 November, the “snub” to the Indian Prime Minister continues.

The Ministry of External Affairs however maintain that they are unaffected by Mr Obama’s call to the Chinese leader and points out that Mr Obama will call the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, in due course of time. Officials insist that too much is being read into these telephone calls and this is not an indication of the strength of Indo-US relationship which remains strong.

This, however, does not explain the fact that as of 8 November, when Mr Obama called the Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, the Indian government had maintained that Mr Obama was returning calls only to countries that were having of some military alliance with the US. Officials in the MEA had particularly pointed out that both China and India had not received the call since both did not share a military alliance with USA.

This explanation no longer holds forth. But then the government seems to have no new answer for this latest development and embarrassment.

MEA is clearly in denial. Let's hope they wake up soon for the good of the country.