Asif Ali Zardari showered Sarah Palin with “gushing compliments”, according to Dawn (September 26). According to the report, Zardari “called her gorgeous and said: ‘Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you”. The report quotes Palin as saying: “It’s going great. These meetings are very informative and helpful, and a lot of good people sharing appreciation for America.”

With regard to the meeting between Zardari and Manmohan Singh, The Nation (September 26) reports “President Asif Ali Zardari and PM Manmohan Singh, who met at New York on Wednesday during their visit to New York to attend the 63rd UN General Assembly, agreed to work for ‘an early and full normalisation’ of relations between their two countries on the basis of ‘mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and non-interference’.” The paper goes on to say that” it is unfortunate that these pious intentions, often expressed by the Indian leadership, should have hit a snag every time the core issue of Kashmir came up for meaningful talks... ”

Mixed reception

There are mixed feelings with regard to Zardari’s meetings with foreign leaders during his US visit. Commenting on Zardari’s meeting with Manmohan Singh an editorial in The News (September 26) starts off on a positive note: “President Asif Ali Zardari’s meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has produced results which may well have a lasting impact on relations between the two neighbours”. It cautions, however, that: “The hawks may find that Pakistan may have conceded a bit much through the content of the joint statement... the document says that both leaders agreed that ‘the forces that have tried to derail the peace process must be defeated.’”.

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