Amusing tales from Sharm el-Sheikh

One step forward, two steps backwards. Prime minister Manmohan Singh and his handlers seem to have lost their footing on the slippery slope of Indo-Pak relations.

The joint statement from Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt was supposed to have been a 'gift' for visiting US secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Instead, it has turned into a public relations disaster with the PM virtually disowning, under intense domestic pressure, the agreement with his Pakistani counterpart, Yousaf Gilani, to delink the composite dialogue process from Islamabad's crackdown on terror.

The backtracking began in Sharm el-Sheikh itself, almost as soon as the joint statement was issued, with hilarious results. There were the Pakistanis celebrating with jhappis and pappis while stunned Indian officials digested the import of the scene unfoding in front of their eyes.

Can't let Pakistan get away with this. So, to dispel the impression of a sellout, the PM was hastily summoned to address an unscheduled press conference. Foreign journalists were denied entry. Only the accompanying Indian media team was allowed to attend.

The reason for the discrimination became clear with the very first question. To the surprise of all those present, the query came not from a journalist but from a cameraman from national TV. And then, double whammy.

The PM whipped out a piece of paper and read out his reply! It was a staged manoeuvre to beat all past efforts at media management. Surely it's time an aspiring global power of the 21st century learnt new tricks?

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The PR fiasco at Sharm el-Sheikh didn't sour the mood in the first-class cabin of the PM's plane. As the PM and his team winged their way back to India, national security adviser MK Narayanan threw an impromptu farewell party in mid-air for outgoing foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon.

They popped bottles of champagne, cut a cake, and showered him with good wishes for the future. The NAM summit in Egypt was Menon's last foreign trip with the PM. He retires on July 31 and his successor, Nirupama Rao, will be arriving shortly for a brief overlap period to prepare for the challenges ahead.

But even as Menon gets ready for retirement, speculation refuses to die that he may be accommodated in some capacity in the prime minister's office after a suitable cooling-off period.

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The Singapore hospital where Amar Singh had a kidney transplant last week could have been in Mumbai. It overflowed with well-wishers from India on the day of the operation. All the Friends of Amar Singh were there, the two Jayas (Bachchan and Prada), Tina and Anil Ambani, Maanyata Dutt, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan, and a host of non-celebrities.

Amitabh Bachchan was missing, but only because he himself was unwell. He will be flying out shortly to check on his "younger brother", as he calls Singh.

Concern for Amar Singh rippled all the way from the US. A Singh aide said Hillary Clinton's office asked for an update on the state of his health.

Tailpiece
The person who has been hit the hardest by the spat between Rita Joshi and Mayawati is Kranti Kumar, an old friend of Joshi's late father, Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. He was the owner of the house that was set on fire by agitated BSP workers protesting against Joshi's unwarranted comments. Joshi used the house only as an office. She preferred to stay at a five-star hotel in Lucknow whenever she visited the UP capital from her hometown, Allahabad. Poor Kumar has paid a heavy price for friendship.