Two foreign ministers got it wrong twice

Twice in a row two foreign ministers of this country have made the same mistake, each time on the day before the visit of an Indian prime minister. In September 2011, our foreign minister had insisted that the Teesta water sharing agreement was going to be signed during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka, although the same day the Indian foreign secretary said otherwise in Delhi.  In June 2015, another foreign minister told the press that there was no chance Narendra Modi was going to meet BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in Dhaka. He was proven wrong later in the day, again in Delhi, when the Indian foreign secretary specified the exact date and time of the upcoming meeting between the two leaders.

While the gravities of the two goof-ups are not the same, both can be described in soccer parlance as offside. Instead of players going before balls, mouths in both instances went before facts. It isn't clear what causes such a disjunct distribution in diplomatic deployment of information between the foreign ministries of the two neighbouring countries.

A high-level visit involves strenuous preparations until both sides are ready to read from the same hymn sheet. The devil is always in the details, and minor slip-ups are possible while cranking out the busy itinerary for the head of a government. This is also why the work is supposed to start months ahead of time. Last minute adjustments can happen, because new developments push new priorities.

But why is it that our foreign ministers have been caught on the wrong foot both the times? Is it because they tend to unilaterally railroad through bilateral issues? Or is it because the Indians always keep their cards close to their chest, hanging their Bangladesh counterparts out to dry? 

Either way, twice it left our foreign ministers holding the bag. And it also left many of us scratching our heads as to why such inconsistencies must crop up again and again in a standardised process. Former US first lady Eleanor Roosevelt said that if people betray you once it's their fault, but if they betray you twice it is your fault. That's not to say that the Indians have betrayed us, but that we have manifestly suckered ourselves.

It's customary amongst television newscasters to say sorry if they mispronounce a word or inadvertently misread the script. While we are yet to hear an apology from our former foreign minister almost four years after she had misinformed this nation, the incumbent's indiscretion is still fresh from the oven. We don't know if he contemplates regret or is even stung by any compunction for telling an untruth to his countrymen!

But he should know that irrespective of what he does, it has dented his credibility as the front man of our foreign relations. And if he doesn't clarify his position, it will only continue to haunt him for the rest of his tenure and encroach upon his reputation with a vengeance. In some other country, he would have been asked to leave his job in disgrace. Unfortunately, that isn't a foregone conclusion in our case.

Strong nations are strong because they are tough on soft issues. On May 28, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe apologised in the Diet for his rude outburst. He had barked at an opposition lawmaker during her question about controversial defence legislation for which he faced criticism from both ruling and opposition parties. Former US president Bill Clinton had offered his apology to the American people for his sexual misconduct. David Cameron met Nelson Mandela in 2006 and said it was wrong of Margaret Thatcher to brand him as a terrorist.

In other words, all mistakes seek closure in modest explanations, more so in honest apologies. Our foreign minister should investigate how the erroneous information landed on his desk and then share his findings with us. He should also understand where the gap lies between our conclusion and Indian confirmation. Maybe, next time we should wait until that gap is bridged or think of issuing joint communiqués or simultaneous briefings to avoid surprises.

The purpose here isn't to turn a mole into a mountain. But it's embarrassing and disappointing to find that there are occasional slips between the cup and our official lips. The minister should ask himself why it doesn't happen on the Indian side. Professionalism has its own dignity not to be negotiated for parochial gains.

The picture of Khaleda Zia shaking hands with Narendra Modi has been a graphic reminder of that quiet risk. It's possible the minister either lied to us or spoke before having a complete grasp on the fact. Either way it defeated the basic tenets of diplomacy, because the talent that should have been used to win negotiations abroad was sadly wasted at home.

The writer is the Editor of the weekly First News and an opinion writer for The Daily Star. Email: badrul151@yahoo.com.