With the death of former Indian PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a rather curious and interesting anecdote involving the former Indian prime minister and BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, has come to light.
Everyone knows that during the BNP-Jamaat government, diplomatic relations between the two countries declined, but even in that tense period, Vajpayee gave Khaled Zia the offer to have her knee operated on through his own initiative.
He also gave Khaleda Zia his mobile number, said, Ashok Tandon, the media in charge during Vajpayee’s premiership.
Tandon said: “Indian government was deeply resentful of the mistreatment of Hindus after Khaleda Zia came to power and, Vajpayee also decided to stringently raise the matter during the recess period of the SAARC summit.”
But during the meet, the discussion became light-hearted when talks diverted towards Khaleda Zia’s knee operation.
Noticing that Khaleda Zia was limping, the Indian premier raised the matter and talked about his own knee operation performed by Dr. Chittoronjon Ranawat.
After two years, in 2004, Vajpayee again met Khaleda Zia in Islamabad SAARC summit.
At that time, during the meet of the two leaders, former Indian foreign secretary, Sasanka was present.
Sasanka says: “I was also present during that meeting and noticing that Khaleda Zia was still in some difficulty while walking, the Indian PM, told her not to worry and promised to give her the mobile number of Dr. Ranawat, an expert.”
Saying this, he asked a team member from the Indian side to give her the name, email and contact details of the specialist.
This eased the tense atmosphere of the talks, added Sasanka.
The India-Bangladesh relations was at its nadir between 2001 and 2006.
Mistreatment of Hindu minority in Bangladesh plus refuge given to militant leaders from India to Bangladesh were the main causes.
But due to the knee-operation diplomacy, the uneasiness was dealt with considerable aplomb and Khaleda Zia’s estimation of Vajpayee went up significantly.