President Asif Ali Zardari and his entourage are set to fly to London but the simple question that what necessitates the trip at this point of time is still unanswered. Does anyone in government know if the so-called 'trip is an official visit or a private one? Did London extend the invitation or has the President embarked on the yatra himself? What is the agenda of this trip is also a question that still begs an answer? As per newspapers of today (Sunday 1st August), the President is due to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron on August 6 at the latters country residence Chequers, in the outskirts of London. Zardari is also to meet the British MPs of Pakistani origin. Lastly, he is also reportedly meeting the Pakistani community in Birmingham. Well, there is an issue of our national prestige here. Asif Ali Zardari happens to the head of the state of an independent sovereign country. Simple courtesy demands that he must meet head of the state of the host country which, regretfully, is not what we see happening at this point of time. The answer to this awkward question that Pakistani public could have stomached could either be that United Kingdom is without a head of state or that our President is, actually, not a head of state. But H.R.H Queen Elizabeth II is very much a head of state of Britain. Hence, this is simply an exigency of state protocol that Mr Zardari must meet her. Pity that point of national prestige has been ignored altogether by our top brass. -IQBAL HADI ZAIDI, Kuwait, August 1.