Dhaka, June 14 -- Diplomacy is the art of speaking for a nation before nations abroad. A good diplomat is he who understands the reasons why he is being sent abroad by his government. In the first place, he will represent and speak for the policies of his government. In the second, he will expand on those policies and convince the host government that they are the platform on which his country intends to go forward into the future in the interest of all citizens of the country.

And from that point emerges a fundamental truth --- that a diplomat, from the ambassador or high commissioner down to a third secretary, is in a foreign capital and in his office at the embassy or high commission as the representative of his country. A diplomat, w...