Ma concierge vient de me faire passer
The telegraph en direct de
Calcutta...
First Lady? If French say so
New Delhi, Jan. 5: When French President Nicolas Sarkozy walked around the palaces of Luxor in Egypt last month with head-turner girlfriend Carla Bruni in a tight clinch, the Indian foreign office might have seen what was coming.
Sarkozy and Bruni posing by the Taj Mahal or the two making an item on Rajpath during the parade — the French President is the Republic Day chief guest this year — was going to be a test for Indian prudishness.
Sarkozy and Bruni left a little storm in Egypt in their wake. An opposition member of the parliament in Cairo even accused the French President of being party to “official prostitution” in the Islamic country.
But Sarkozy flew to Egypt on a jet loaned by a French billionaire on a private trip ahead of the state visit. Indian officials have taken a cue from that and are working on ways to avoid embarrassment.
Reactions in India are unlikely to be as harsh as the Egyptian politician’s comment. But there is a stiffening of the lip.
The Indian foreign office is likely to leave it to the French government, through its mission here, to suggest if Bruni should be granted First Lady status.
The French embassy here is waiting for the formal announcement of Sarkozy’s visit to let its views be known.
“Sarkozy has put his hosts in a spot. If he were bringing his wife, she would have been given the highest honour. The girlfriend cannot get the same status,” said Tarun Vijay, editor of RSS mouthpiece
Panchjanya.
“This is something unusual and embarrassing, not just for the Indian government but also for the French. The occasion he is coming here for is a very serious one. It is definitely not going to be amusing for the host country.”
When Bruni’s name was found on the tentative list sent to the Union home ministry for security arrangements this week, the foreign office was taken aback — what status was she to be given?
With Bruni by his side, Sarkozy’s visit will set a precedent. The bureaucracy does not like that for it almost always goes by what is usual.
If Bruni is given First Lady status, the Indian government will have to assign the couple to a single room and fix a separate programme of engagements for her --- shopping in Janpath, meeting women/spouses of important people, ensuring she is seated next to Sarkozy at banquets etc.
But if she is not to have official engagements, she will have time to spare because Sarkozy will be involved with the intricacies of the Eurocopter and nuclear deals in bilateral relations.
It has been suggested that she could exchange notes on ex-boyfriend Mick Jagger with his estranged wife Bianca, now visiting the country. But that might be a mite difficult to fit into the schedule because intentions are indeterminable and unknown.
The RSS’s Vijay, who claimed he was giving his personal opinion, dwelt more on the politics of protocol.
“The occasion demands a reaction from his own country rather than from the host. We treat all our guests with respect. We will definitely accord him state honour. Anybody else accompanying him must be treated as a respectable guest or a delegate,” he said.
A South Asia correspondent for a French newspaper said the situation was piquant not just for India but for France, too.
“French Presidents are known to have girlfriends and mistresses, but they never flaunted them or took them on official visits. If I know the French, they will not insist on First Lady status for Carla. But then, Sarkozy is different. You never know with him,” the journalist said.
For the foreign ministry, there is another important factor playing. When the invitation to Sarkozy was thought of last year, it looked like the visit would be rich in content. There was the possibility that India would sign a deal to buy 197 Eurocopter choppers for the army.
But after investigators detected irregularities, the government cancelled the tender and issued another. The European consortium, of which French and German companies are leading members, was in stiff competition with the US’ Bell Textron. Since that tender was cancelled, Sarkozy’s visit has lost some of its load.
With Bruni likely to accompany Sarkozy, the visit will now get publicity for all the wrong reasons.
But, then, the couple did not mind the paparazzi following them on the banks of the Nile last month. There is little evidence to suggest it will be any different on the banks of the Yamuna.
Accueil 
Je crois que je ne me sens pas bien. Non, ce n'est pas le syndrome de Stendhal. 
Y a quelque chose en moi qui est en train d'émerger d'obscures ténèbres...
, je suis outré par ses accusations sans fondement…en effet, ma voiture est blanche. 