“You look gorgeous.” The comment by the Pakistani President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari, and his offer to hug the Republican vice presidential candidate, Ms Sarah Palin, has got him into some trouble with Pakistani media. “You look gorgeous. Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you,” Mr Zardari said on meeting Ms Palin here on Wednesday. “You are so nice,” Ms Palin responded. When an aide asked them to pose again, Ms Palin said with a smile, “I am supposed to pose again?” To which Mr Zaradari quipped: “If the aide is insisting, I might hug.”

Earlier, a sense of unease was written large on Prime Minister Mannmohan Singh’s face when Ms Palin came calling on him. Some journalists present at the meeting said that Ms Palin was equally uncomfortable. A journalist said: “Our people seem to focus on Dr Singh’s level of discomfort, but look at her level of discomfort. She is an ordinary moose hunter, no experience either in politics or international relations. She should have been more uncomfortable meeting Dr Singh, a first rate economist, Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy.”