Fly on the wall

Fly on the wall
Harish Gupta

Soccer first, dinner can wait
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was in for a surprise when his Portuguese counterpart Antonio Guterres made an unusual request at a dinner in the PM's honour in Lisbon on Wednesday. The programme had been scheduled for 8 p.m. and the invites had been dispatched. Programmes of high-level dignataries are finalised well in advance and changed only for extremely compelling reasons. From Guterres' viewpoint, his request for a change in schedule was compelling enough. Portugal had reached the semi-finals of the Euro-2000 soccer tournament and was slated to play France on Wednesday at 7.45 pm. The timing of the international event could not be changed; hence, the request was to postpone dinner. Vajpayee, who normally puts out the lights early, was asked if he would consider a request of postponement of dinner to 10 pm. The PM, not the most enthusiastic of soccer fans, nevertheless sat up with his family members in his Ritz Hotel room. It was the PM's turn to make a request - no phone calls please.

It doesn't happen only in India
This happens in Lisbon also. When Pramod Mahajan landed here to participate in the India-EU Summit on Tuesday, he found his baggage missing. He was furious, as he had to attend a banquet hosted for the PMs that very evening. This time, it wasn't the fault of the much-blamed national carriers but that of a private airline. Finally, Mahajan had to make do with a kurta-pyjama at the PM's banquet. The next day, though, he landed at a reception for the Portuguese PM in a suit.

In matters of security too, Portugal seems to have taken a tip or two from the Indian Special Protection Group. While in India, the privilege of escort and pilot cars is given only to PMs, in Lisbon, even the ministers get this honour. As is this wasn't enough, the authorities gave the same treatment to journalists when they landed at the military airport.

Who will buy the Maharaja?
The Prime Minister's road-shows in Europe showed the first signs of success when the CEO of Alitalia, Italy's airlines, enquired if the government would allow foreigners to invest in this sector. Of course, was the resounding reply. It will be through a competitive bidding process alone that AI's strategic partner would be chosen. Some of the companies wanted to know when the government would open up its foreign exchange sector. The Finance Minister dropped ample hints that such a process would begin in 2001. Already, credit cards are in operation where payments can be made in foreign exchange.

Naresh Goyal, Jet Airways chairperson, who was also part of the business delegation and who's keeping an eye on Air-India, has reasons to worry. Perhaps, he would need more partners to get into the game. Otherwise, the government could tell him a firm no, saying he is capable of creating a monopoly in the aviation sector. Given the clout that the Sahara Airlines commands despite having just 6 per cent of the market share, Goyal has reason to worry.

High praise, hard talk
If Vajpayee earned high praise from the governments in Rome and Lisbon. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha spoke eloquently about how India could be Destination Next for the world's moneybags. And Information Technology minister Pramod Mahajan created a flutter with his anecdotes at a gathering of the who's who of Europe. While, Commerce Minister Murasoli Maran candidly admitted that the power sector was the main bottleneck in the country's growth, which provided an opportunity to foreign investors. It may be because of the straight talk coupled with the offer of counter-guarantees in the power sector that investors may be lured to land in New Delhi.