LONDON, April 24: Commonwealth Secretary-General Don Mackinnon is in ‘serious and continuous’ dialogue with President Pervez Musharraf on the issue of the general’s insistence that he will like to get re-elected in uniform later this year, it was revealed here on Monday.

“The Commonwealth has made it clear to all its members that it would no more tolerate uniformed presidents and prime ministers in its midst,” said Lord David Triesman of the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, while answering questions after delivering a lecture on ‘Public diplomacy — Steps to the future, at the London School of Economics and Science.

Lord Triesman had been asked why Britain was continuing to support a military dictator in Pakistan while its troops were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect and promote democracy in those countries.

Speaking about Britain’s position on the issue, he advanced the usual argument that one had to be extremely cautious about these things in view of the ongoing war on terror.

He implied that he expected the efforts of the Commonwealth secretary-general to yield positive results but appeared unable to make a firm forecast on the timetable.

Earlier, Lord Triesman of Tottenham discussed the role that public diplomacy played in the achievement of the UK government’s international objectives. As chair of the Public Diplomacy Board, he described the approach that had been developed as a result of Lord Carter’s 2005 Review of Public Diplomacy, with a primary focus on engaging with foreign public audiences.

Lord Triesman is the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with responsibility for relations with Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Overseas Territories and the Commonwealth, among other duties.

The lecture was organised in cooperation with The Foreign Policy Centre, a leading European think tank launched under the patronage of the Prime Minister Tony Blair to develop a vision of a fair and rule-based world order.