Delhi scores with woman envoy in Doha
This news (under Qatar News-Right bottom corner of QL) is relevant to Qatar and worth a read-
Here are some excerpts-
But the relevance of India’s woman ambassador in Doha has come from Qatar’s cultivated effort to project itself as a moderate Islamic country in which its women are encouraged to take up increasingly important roles.
In that context, Qataris clearly view South Block’s trailblazing decision to post Wadhwa here as a sign of confidence in New Delhi that a woman can meet the exhausting demands of diplomatic leadership and advancement of Indian interests in Doha. After watching Wadhwa at work in Doha for two years, Germany and Greece have followed India’s example and sent women ambassadors recently. That makes them a trio of women envoys here, very uncommon for the Gulf.
Wadhwa is the envy of male ambassadors here because the government of Qatar, in recognition of India’s symbolic gesture, has gone out of its way to open all doors to her to convince the rest of the world that women are not unequal here. But a bonus for Wadhwa is the access she enjoys among Qatari women, including women members of the ruling al Thani family and the wives of prominent Qataris. That is a luxury which male ambassadors, even those with extremely close links to Qatar, do not have.
Manmohan Singh has taken personal charge of dealings with Qatar, the only country with which India’s relations are directly monitored by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Not even bilateral relations with Pakistan and the US are under the direct charge of the Prime Minister: the conventional babudom still controls ties with both Islamabad and Washington, but not with Doha.
A defence agreement, unusual for a country closely aligned militarily to the US, was another result of the Prime Minister’s visit to Doha in November 2008. Sources here said the pact was a Qatari initiative, an attempt to live down the perception of a unifocal relationship with Washington, with India offering a non-Western alternative for Doha in the defence theatre
It is the only example within the Indian government where the principal secretary to the Prime Minister, as opposed to the national security adviser or the foreign secretary, monitors a bilateral relationship. Singh’s was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Qatar in 25 years: it took place at the personal insistence of the Prime Minister who recognised that Qatar was blazing a new trail in the Arab world long before this year’s popular revolutions and was receptive to the idea of breaking new ground in relations with India.
In my opinion (can't say my experience :P) women diplomats are better performing, due to their inherent value of being more compassiante than Men, on such assignments (foreign relations).
@ goodoldjoe,well put & thank you...
Lets look at it this way. India appointed an ambassador who was the best possible candidate for that position not because she was a woman but because she was the best available choice for that job at that moment in time and she has done a wonderful job.
If this"Qatar’s cultivated effort to project itself as a moderate Islamic country in which its women are encouraged to take up increasingly important roles." were really true rather than just an attempt at trying to project an image of something they're not,then this "But a bonus for Wadhwa is the access she enjoys among Qatari women, including women members of the ruling al Thani family and the wives of prominent Qataris. That is a luxury which male ambassadors, even those with extremely close links to Qatar, do not have" wouldn't be...if they were truly projecting an image of equality among the genders,that "access" to the Sheikhas & wives of prominent locals wouldn't have been a "luxury"...the truth of the matter,they have a LONG way to go,the change must first come in the local male mindset then the local female mindset & all this @ GROUND level,NOT @ the level of the royals & the super-rich,that means nothing...sorry to be the wet blanket,but this is the fact of the matter...As for H.E Mrs. Wadha,she has been a wonderful representative of the India community here & easily one of the best Indian ambassadors this country has seen,tough yet graceful in her dealings & what i really like about her is the fact that she gives all the male chauvinist Indian uncle members of the "boys club" in Doha a real inferiority complex! good on her!...
The Consul to the Eastern Province of KSA was a lady. She was a buxom blonde with a penchant for the extravagant. Very political move :o)