Covert diplomacy

Former National Security Advisor (NSA) Brajesh Mishra’s bone-dry sense of humour was well in evidence at the launch of a strategy document on non-alignment prepared under the aegis of Centre for Policy Research. Speaking after former NSA and current West Bengal Governor M K Narayanan, Mishra couldn’t resist a dig at his successor. Referring to Narayanan’s self-deprecating statement that he did not know anything about diplomacy, Mishra said, “The governor said he is not a diplomat. But we hear and read from the newspapers that there is so much diplomacy going on in Kolkata.” He was referring, of course, to the UPA’s constant struggles to deal with its wayward ally in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.