FOREIGN POLICY FIASCO

FOCUS DIPLOMACY

- Rajdeep Sardesai

So who is in charge of India’s foreign policy? On the face of it, that would seem a pretty obvious answer. Dr S Jaishankar as EAM has been the highly visible public face of the Modi government, a peripatetic and seasoned diplomat who has often made headlines for his sharp and pointed sound bites.

And yet, there have been enough moments when even the media-savvy minister must wonder just who is calling the shots in South Block. The latest instance of diplomatic confusion is exemplified by the handling of relations with Bangladesh.

Consider this. On 31 December, Jaishankar travelled to Dhaka to attend the funeral of former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia, handing over a personal letter of condolence from PM Modi to her son and heir apparent Tariq Rahman. The image of the minister shaking hands with the man most likely to be Bangladesh's next PM suggesteda thaw in ties after months of frosty relations. Yet, just two days later, the BCCI issued a directive to the IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) asking it to withdraw the Bangladesh star player, Mustafizar Rahman from its list of contracted players. The private franchise complied without demur, sparking off an angry reaction from Bangladesh government and cricket board which has now declared that it will not play the World T20 matches in India next month as a mark of protest.