New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Guess who figures high on the list of names for the coveted post of Indian high commissioner to London? None other than 10 Janpath favourite and Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.

His wife Rupika Chawla is a close friend of Sonia Gandhi. The two did their art restoration courses together. Chawla, who retires July 29, wants to succeed Nalin Surie, the present high commissioner who retires in July after less than a year at his post.

Surie had replaced Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, who himself had a shortlived tenure - despite having been given assurances by the stalwarts of UPA-I that he would serve a full term of at least three years - simply because Surie needed to be accommodated after losing out to Nirupama Rao in the race for foreign secretary.

In the bureaucratic chessboard of appointments and transfers, the winners are those who can work on the 'queen'.

Up, close and going to China

An eclectic mix of people has been drawn up for a delegation that is visiting China this week. There is, however, one thing in common - they are all close to the top establishment.

Some delegation members have served it in one capacity or the other and are known as advocates of major government policies.

Headed by former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra, the delegation also has Tarun Das, business evangelist; Suman Dubey, member, Prasar Bharati board; Sanjaya Baru, editor, Business Standard; and C. Raja Mohan, strategic expert.

Chandra, though in his mid-70s, continues to advise the government in one capacity or another by virtue of the key positions he has held, including ambassador to Washington, governor of Gujarat and chief secretary of Rajasthan besides having been on any number of government panels and private boards.

Intellectually razor-sharp, Chandra is known to do the mentally challenging Times crossword in 30 minutes flat.

Some royal memories

Stories are still filtering in of the right royal welcome that Manmohan Singh and his delegation got when he visited Saudi Arabia last month, the first prime ministerial visit from India after 28 years.

The octogenarian reformist monarch, King Abdullah, who has taken the conservative oil-rich kingdom on a carefully calibrated modernisation path, not only defied set protocol to be part of the welcome ceremony for the visiting Indian leader but also gave him signal honour by deciding to meet him one-on-one close to midnight, something royals do only with 'close friends'.

The entire Saudi cabinet - which is the extended royal family of cousins and uncles - was there at the royal palace at the banquet on Sunday, a working day in the Middle East.

And the man who really swung things in double-quick time was none other than Talmiz Ahmad, the Indian ambassador who was brought in for his second stint in Riyadh after tour of duties in Muscat and Abu Dhabi.

Bhojan or khana? Ask BJP

Is an invite for 'bhojan' different from that for 'khana'? Yes, if the invite is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), although the two words used for lunch or dinner in colloquial Hindi have identical meanings for the man on the street.

If the invite from a BJP leader is for `bhojan', the guest can expect vegetarian fare and if it is for `khana', the food will have non-vegetarian items as well. But if the invitation is for `khana-peena', one can be sure of some free flowing spirits.

So depending on your preferences, it could be quite easy to decide which invite to accept or reject!

Lingua franca, Tharoor style

Language matters in diplomacy. And Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, a former high-flying UN diplomat, knows it only too well.

Speaking at the recent India-Africa business conclave attended by around 400 African leaders and businessmen from 34 countries, Tharoor topped up his speech with a fine sprinkling of French.

His impeccable French went down well with African leaders from Francophone countries who burst out in loud applause. It wasn't a one-off performance though.

Whenever Tharoor hosts lunch for visiting African leaders from Francophone countries, he makes it a point to converse in French with them.

Talking 'at', not talking 'to'

Nearly three weeks after foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan, the grapevine is still abuzz with stories of what went wrong.

It now emerges from the Pakistani side that National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon, a former envoy to Islamabad, was unusually tough and blunt on India's demand for action on terrorism when the Pakistani delegation called on him.

This is why the mild-mannered Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir, who had known Menon when they were both in Beijing, went on the offensive at a press conference later in the evening, said a Pakistani official.

"Is there any other option but to talk? But we were talking at each other and not talking to each other," said the official.

On Games duty - as guides

What do you think is keeping Commonwealth Games organising committee members on their toes? Not just the ticking of the clock before the October event but also the guided tours they are taking the relatives of VIPs on.

An official, feeling rather harassed, said on condition of anonymity: "I just spent half a day showing around the Games village to the son of the Tamil Nadu governor. There was hardly time to do any other work that day."

And that despite deadlines for various projects clawing in!

Small country, big ambition

Togo's Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo was a surprise at the India-Africa business conclave here, even offering to host the next meet at Lome, his country's capital. But where is Togo, wondered many in the audience.

The youthful former UN bureaucrat stunned many with his sheer self-belief and earnestness. The audience reacted appreciatively. In the end his confidence carried the day. Tata International's Syamal Gupta, an old Africa hand, responded enthusiastically saying CII will take a business delegation to Togo soon.

For those who still don't know, Togo is a small French-speaking country of 6.7 million people in West Africa.

The Draupadi effect

This conversation was overheard at the Saudi banquet. An elderly Saudi cabinet minister, a cousin of the king, asked a member of Indian delegation: "Do Muslims have equal rights in your country? Is it true they are a persecuted minority?" Answer: "No sir, they have equal rights under the country's secular constitution."

"Does India's law allow a Muslim man to take four wives?" Answer: "Muslims are governed by their personal laws and can take four wives."

"Can a Hindu man also take four wives?" Answer: "Well, five men have shared one wife (a reference to Draupadi in Hindu epic Mahabharata)!"