Colourful diplomacy

Diplomacy, it has been said, is 50 per cent protocol and 50 per cent alcohol! Officials at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ought to have known. They scored poorly with over a hundred heads of Indian missions worldwide when they served Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky at a dinner they hosted last week, while rivals Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (Ficci) scored hugely over them by not only offering Pepsi CEO Indira Nooyi as a star speaker for the evening but also serving Johnnie Walker Black Label after the talk!! Message for also-ran Assocham: try offering to serve Blue Label next year!