St Petersburg, May 31: Indulging in some high-voltage diplomacy, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpyaee has had a hectic schedule meeting world's most powerful leaders ever since he landed here for the tercentenary celebrations of this city as a special invitee of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mingling with leaders of P-5 and other G-8 nations, former Soviet Republics now comprising the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and those from a number of European Nations, Vajpayee had the distinction of being the lone invitee outside any of these groupings. After the formal welcome by the host at the peter the great monument of the bronze horseman, Vajpayee attended Putin's dinner for all the invited heads of states and governments on the fourth deck aboard the 7-deck, 6-star cruise liner Silver Whisper, considered one of Europe's best passenger ships. The dinner, attended by world's powerful leaders including French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Gerhard Schroeder and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, went well past mid-night.


This was followed by Vajpayee's bilateral meeting with Putin followed by Chirac, which went upto 0230 hours (IST 0400 hours) Saturday.
Bureau Report