Sending out the wrong message

It is in poor form for Opposition leaders to criticise the government on foreign shores

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In 2017, on one of his first visits outside the US after two terms in the White House, to India to speak at a conference organised by this newspaper, President Barack Obama refused to be drawn into commenting on his successor Donald Trump, despite events back home providing him with enough motivation and ammunition to do so.

Politicians from many other countries do the same, preferring to keep their domestic political rivalries just that — domestic. It is almost as if there is a universal (and unwritten) code on how politicians should behave when they travel abroad. Their criticism of the government (or rivals) back home is muted; and they always talk about their country and its achievements with pride.