It was interesting to see that Khaleda Zia could manage a nearly hour long audience with newly appointed Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz during the latter’s visit.  With King Abdullah’s deteriorating health, Salman is most likely to be the next King. Nayef was not going to  make it too long as crown prince anyway. Everybody knew that.

But this is not surprising given BNP’s historical links with the Kingdom. What was surprising was Khaleda’s  hour long chat with Clinton at her home. During government talks, Hillary even did not use the napkins provided by GOB.  Apparently she brought everything from USA, even water bottles. In Government meeting with Hasina/ Dipu moni Hillary did not touch anything. But when Hillary visited KZ, she ate rosogolla, drank coconut water etc. Hillary is a master of body language.

(We will leave the analysis of any hidden meaning behind the colour coordination to Anna Wintour and our fashionista commenters!)

Contrast this with the Awami League reaction to the German Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle, after the latter criticised the government’s handling of any opposition to its policies. Outside of India, I would say that EU (i.e. Germany) was the most pro-AL foreign power in 2004 – 2008. This marked a departure from that. In the backdrop of the Eurozone crisis, the Germans will have a much greater voice in the world as they are effectively being catapulted, however reluctantly, into leading an entire continent. Not someone the Awami League can afford to antagonise, and yet they did so.

Why? Are they worried about another Western-shushil-military alignment? Perhaps. Given how badly BNP was burned last time by such an alignment, should they take Hillary’s overtures seriously?

We will keep these questions in mind in the lead up to elections next year and keep our ears/eyes open. So stay tuned and watch this space!