A Little Bit of Diplomacy With A Lot of Style

An ingenious example of speech and politics occurred recently in a recent session of the United Nations General Assembly that made the world community smile.

A representative from India began: 'Before beginning my talk I want to tell you something about Rishi Kashyap of Kashmir, after whom Kashmir is named.

When he struck a rock and it brought forth water, he thought, "What a good opportunity to have a bath." He removed his clothes, put them aside on the rock and entered the water.

After a long, leisurely bath, when he got out of the water and looked around for his clothes, he found they had vanished.

At this point, the Indian delegate paused, for dramatic effect, and then as a rapt audience of international diplomats waited to hear what happened to the missing clothes, he added, straightfaced : "You see, a Pakistani had stolen the clothes."

Understandably furious at this allegation, the Pakistani representative jumped up and said angrily, "What are you talking about? The Pakistanis weren't there in Kashmir then."

The Indian representative smiled, almost grinned, and then said, "And now that we have made that clear, I will begin my speech."