PM down to earth even in air

Many conventions done away en route Bangkok.

On his first visit abroad as prime minister to attend the first Bangladesh-India-Myanmar-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMST-EC) summit here, Manmohan Singh has broken many conventions that his predecessors have been observing for years.

Advising his Cabinet colleagues not to come to the Indira Gandhi International Airport to see him off on Thursday morning was only one such instance. But thanks to Congress President Sonia Gandhi's intervention, the prime minister did receive a send-off by his Cabinet colleagues, but not at the airport.

Last evening, Gandhi had requested Singh that she would like to see him off at the airport. The mild-mannered prime minister is reported to have indicated to the Congress president that he would be using a helicopter from the Safdarjung Airport to reach the Indira Gandhi International Airport to avoid any traffic snarl-up in the city. That, too, was a first by any Indian prime minister in recent times.

According to sources in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), the Congress president decided to see Singh off at the Safdarjung Airport. Other ministers took the cue. Instead of assembling at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in a queue, they completed that exercise at the Safdarjung Airport.

Only a few Congress leaders, including Ambika Soni, Salman Khursheed and Motilal Vora, landed up at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to see Singh off.

Arriving at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in a helicopter, Singh drove to the ceremonial lounge to spend a few minutes with the Congress leaders. The prime minister's aircraft took off at 12.20 pm. But there was no undue disruption to civilian air traffic.

Even while the prime minister's plane was approaching the main runway for takeoff, a couple of planes were seen landing or taking off. Less than half-an-hour after being air-borne, Singh came out to the rear section of the plane to have a chat with the journalists accompanying him on the visit.

An impromptu briefing was organised. All this took officials by surprise. In the past, prime ministers have held briefings inside the plane, but elaborate preparations have always preceded them.

PMO officials pointed out that even the past practice of briefing the prime minister had undergone a significant change. Singh rejected outright any suggestion that he would be briefed about his meetings in Bangkok on the plane.

Instead, he held discussions with his officials on the BIMST-EC meeting for three hours. Briefings should be held before the visit starts and not inside a plane, he is reported to have remarked.

Breaking another convention, Singh did not insist that his principal secretary, TKA Nair, should accompany him on this visit. When asked why the principal secretary to the prime minister did not come for the BIMST-EC summit meeting, a PMO official explained, "Somebody senior in the PMO should be there in New Delhi to take charge of the situation there." No prime minister in recent times has gone abroad on an official visit without his principal secretary.