Jammu, Aug. 21 -- India careful not to give propaganda tool to Dhaka, Ankara
By Asad Mirza
Words matter in diplomacy, and Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir chose his carefully. Asked whether Dhaka would join the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement - the pact Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed on August 7 - Kabir didn't say no. He said Bangladesh would weigh the option "considering its own interests." That's the language of a country keeping a door ajar, not one shutting it.
The pact itself is stark. Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan committed to treating an attack on one as an attack on all - an Article 5 clone, built on top of the Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed last September. Egypt has been ...