"The Indians were told off."
"For what? Winning the war of words with us?"
"No, for violating our air space."
"But didn't our President say that it was a technical violation on the part of the Indians."
"And he would know that how?"
"That is irrelevant. Summoning the Indian Ambassador and telling him off now is actually challenging the veracity of our own President's statement. Why did the Foreign Office do it?"
"I am not sure - I can't imagine the Foreign Minister going against the wishes of the President?"
"The one responsible must be held to task."
"President Zardari or the FO chap?"
"Don't be facetious. If the President made a blunder then we should stand by the blunder."
"But a verbal or written blunder is not such a big thing for our President. Let's be honest our President doesn't take his own word seriously and so I don't think any heads would roll."
"You think the President directed the FO in this regard?"
"I am almost positive that he must have had a hand in it. I can't imagine the FO being proactive. I mean they don't have the experience to be proactive any more."
"I agree, they are used to the Musharraf era when they parroted statements made by the ISPR."
"Now you are being unkind."
"So, what next?"
"Our increasing global isolation no longer interests me in the face of domestic politics.
We have a possible Supreme Court-National Assembly show down, we have a possible show-down on the seventeenth amendment...."
"Hmmm, cool! And foreign policy be damned!"
"Let the President deal with it any which way he wants."
"Well, he is doing that in any case."