Mamata Didi Attends Hillary's Classes

Bangalore: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Kolkata recently. Before meeting the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, she participated in a public forum moderated by NDTV Group Editor Barkha Dutt. The grace, intelligence and diplomacy she displayed during the interaction has prompted Firstpost to take a look at those qualities in her that our leaders, particularly Mamata Banerhee could benefit from learning.

Lesson 1: Difficult-to-answer questions are not always “shajano’’ (fabricated) questions.

Although she seemed slightly ill at ease when asked about the American ‘double standards’ on Israel, especially because the question was followed by a wide applause, Hillary Clinton answered it. She expressed her views clearly and firmly without trying to run down the young girl who asked it. And like a true politician, she skillfully maneuvered her answer away from the topic. The question was on Israel, and her answer Iran. “The principal threat is a nuclear armed Iran,” she said emphatically. When asked about the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that Iran has signed but Israel has not, She responded by saying “We have not been able to convince India to sign the NPT(either).”