Saudi Arabia is not only our Muslim brother but also a time-tested and dependable friend. The rulers and the people of Saudi Arabia have always supported the people of Pakistan. The people of Pakistan thank King Abdullah and the Saudi people as well for their lasting support in our hour of need. May Allah Almighty shower His blessings on the Custodian of two Holy mosques and the peoples of Saudi Arabia for this kind help. It is very shameful for our corrupt leadership which is losing such loyal friends of Pakistan and seeking help from our real enemies. They are absolutely unaware of the real diplomacy which is the foundation and practical realization of politics. Have our leadership undergone any training and experience of running the affairs of this country? They are only trained to wear branded suits, shirts, ties, shoes and spray expensive perfumes. They are least bothered about the enemy surrounding and sitting right above our heads, always planning how to finish us. Our leadership is only enjoying and traveling foreign trips. In fact Salman Taseer had never been exactly the favorite person of the people of Pakistan. His recent hard talk against King Abdullah and Saudi Arabia is against all norms of diplomacy. Firstly, if we speak about diplomacy on an international scale, the true diplomacy is an ability to make and maintain relations between states and international subjects. The main task of a diplomat is to win wars by words, not through weapons. This ability can nowhere be found in the comments given by the Governor Punjab, which otherwise was not his prerogative. He should have been flexible and smooth-tongued while working on such a top position of the country. Secondly, I am inclined to believe that diplomacy is the art of building and maintaining relations between governments and other international organizations, and searching for compromise for decision-making on different problems by doing and saying the nastiest thing in the nicest way. Such art and skill is non-existent in whole of our leadership. They are determined to sacrifice all of our allies and time-tested friends either for their personal gains or on the direction of their boss. Pakistans ties with Saudi Arabia appear to be under a high degree of strain due to such hard talks. We are rapidly loosing another loyal friend China by adopting Washingtons counterproductive policies. There is an old adage which says that fools learn from their own mistakes while smart people learn from someone elses mistakes. In spite of the fact that it is difficult to argue against the wisdom of the past, I am convinced that fools are unable to learn just by definition. It is very important for this country at this stage to bring people who are good, truthful and honest Muslims. Only such people can run the country much more efficiently than these corrupt and inefficient leaders. Pakistans relations with Saudi Arabia predate its birth in 1947, when independence movement was at climax. And many Pakistanis, like Muslims in all other Muslim countries, feel strongly tied to Saudi Arabia because of the traditional Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. The people of Pakistan should come on roads and publicly condemn the attempts being made by our leadership to undermine the traditionally close ties between the two countries. SHAUKAT MASOOD ZAFAR, December 10.