Goa, July 3 -- Former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan has recalled a dramatic episode from the 1991 hijacking of Singapore Airlines Flight SQ117, claiming that an attempt to contact former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ended with the response, "Madam is sleeping and cannot be disturbed." Kausikan shared the incident while addressing a global conference, using it to illustrate what he described as Pakistan's long-standing governance challenges.

The aircraft, carrying 114 passengers and 11 crew members, was hijacked by four Pakistani terrorists shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 26, 1991. The plane landed at Singapore's Changi Airport, where Kausikan, then serving in Singapore's foreign service, was part of...