Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embarked on his first foreign visit on July 28. He traveled to Bangkok for the summit of the BIMST-EC –– acronym for Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand –– Economic Cooperation. Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) Business Editor Arvind Padmanabhan was part of the media entourage. Vignettes from the visit.

‘Where’s my ticket...’

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took his personal staff by surprise when he asked them for his ticket before boarding a flight from New Delhi to bangkok to attend the BIMST-EC Summit.

“Where’s my ticket?” Manmohan Singh asked his aides while stepping into Air-India One, which carried the prime minister and his entourage, including his wife Gursharan Kaur, senior officials and a large media team, on his maiden overseas engagement since taking office on May 22.

All members of the entourage accompanying the prime minister on foreign visits are issued a ticket for the chartered flight, but the prime minister is always allowed to board without a ticket.

... and ‘foreign exchange?’



“You’re the prime minister. You don’t need a ticket,” was the explanation offered by an official to Manmohan Singh.

Once the issue of the ticket had been sorted out, Manmohan Singh had another query for his personal staff. “Where’s my foreign exchange?” he asked. An official promptly queried: “What expenses do you have, Sir?”

Manmohan Singh told the official that he might need some foreign exchange as his wife might want to tip hotel staff in Bangkok. Officials said some foreign exchange was then hurriedly arranged for the prime minister.

Officials accompanying the prime minister said a bandhgala (close-neck) suit had been hurriedly custom tailored for Manmohan Singh after it was found a day before his departure to Bangkok that the austere dresser did not have one in his wardrobe.

“Even when the government was sworn in, he had worn a kurta-pyjamas. So the bandhgala had to be ordered for his official engagements in Bangkok,” one official said.



A new suit for Manmohan

The result was evident on the day of departure. A visibly relaxed Manmohan Singh wore a smart, light-blue Nehru jacket on the flight to Bangkok.
Manmohan Singh insisted on, and received, a lengthy briefing to prepare himself for the BIMST-EC Su-mmit before he left New Delhi. Officials had suggested that he could be briefed on the flight bet-ween New Delhi and Bangkok, but the prime minister insisted he be briefed well before.


Doing his homework well

Officials said the briefing lasted three hours as Singh acquainted himself with all the nuances of the BIMST-EC grouping, which clubs the Bay of Bengal littoral countries.

And the results of the briefing were evident when Manmohan Singh, known for his sharpness on facts, interacted with reporters aboard Air-India One .

He needed no prompting from officials while naming the six areas for cooperation in the sub-regional grouping –– trade and investment, technology, communication and transportation, tourism, energy and fisheries.