Ambassador Thomson said: "Your country's significance to regional stability is crucial, and we in France are willing to support East Africa in playing a greater role within the Indian Ocean. However, I'm curious about your country's development strategy in the Indian Ocean."
Diplomacy is a process of probing step by step, so even though Thomson made the decision to befriend East Africa, he wouldn't easily make commitments to East Africa.
He used East Africa's Indian Ocean strategy as a wedge to open the next topic, thereby facilitating the agreement with East Africa.
Facing Ambassador Thomson's inquiry, Frier understood and pretended to be helpless, saying: "Although East Africa is based in the Indian Ocean and is a regional great power, we have always lacked strategic locations in the Indian Ocean, which makes us very passive there."
