The 'Bilhina' back-story

The alleged romance between Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's stylish foreign minister and Bilawal Bhutto, son of Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and former premier Benazir Bhutto and now the head of the Pakistan's People's Party (PPP) has become the talk of the town not only online but across dinner tables in diplomatic dos and even high table conversations.

Now, in an oven-fresh twist, reports are suggesting that Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI had leaked the Hina-Bilawal story to get even with the US-educated foreign minister. Political insiders says that the rumour was aimed at damaging Hina's reputation, since the ISI blames her for facilitating a United Nations' Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances to Balochistan that may recommend senior army and intelligence officials be charged for being involved in the cases being looked into.

The ISI, however, has issued a rare clarification. "These allegations are absurd and baseless. The ISI has nothing to do with this defamation campaign and neither any problem exists between the foreign minister and the agency."

Bilawal, the chairperson of the PPP, is the heir to the throne - a Pakistani president in the making. According to a report in the Bangladeshi tabloid Blitz, Bilawal reportedly told his father Asif Ali Zardari that he wants to settle down with Khar in Switzerland. The tabloid had claimed that the foreign minister found out about her millionaire husband Feroz Gulzar's extra-marital affair with his business colleague in Pakistan.

Hina, according to Blitz, got seriously depressed and then tried to commit suicide following the news. The seeds of distrust between Hina and her husband were sown, after which Hina gradually fell in love with 24-year-old Bilawal who is 11 years younger than her, added the tabloid.

News of the alleged relationship between Hina and Bilawal quickly went viral on the Internet. Hina's husband, however, rubbished the reports, terming the news as "reprehensible" and "trash". Gulzar accused political classes in Islamabad of hatching the conspiracy against Hina and their family to malign their image.

While the veracity of the depth of the relationship can not be verified independently, Pakistani sources do confirm that the two share a good personal chemistry. Bilawal, the Oxford-educated heir to the vast Bhutto political legacy, shares a lot of common traits with the 35-year-old.

Hina Rabbani Khar hails from an influential feudal and landowner family and is the daughter of politician and landowner Nur Rabbani Khar and the niece of Ghulam Mustafa Khar, a former Governor of Punjab. The two have been on several tours together as part of official delegations.

But the real reason why the Pakistani foreign minister became a thorn for many powerful people in Pakistan is Hina's growing global profile, due in most part to the projection she has received from the media. From a little known acolyte as a minister of state for finance under former Pakistani banker turned Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, to the first woman foreign minister of an Islamic country, Khar's rise has been meteoric. This became difficult for many to digest, particularly in a society where women still don't enjoy an equal status.

Friends in Islamabad tell me that Khar had rubbed many powerful people the wrong way. As minister of state for finance she had a limited interaction with the ISI, but as the foreign minister it was direct and sometimes overbearing.

I have interviewed Hina Rabbani Khar, twice, she is no drop-dead stunner, but yes she has a photogenic face and she is smart. The Cavalli glasses and Birkin bags are not her only USPs. The hotel management graduate is spontaneous and knows how to enjoy the buzz around her.

Hina has certainly eclipsed many leaders in Pakistan and broken through the glass ceiling. But sometimes this is what becomes an impediment for a career woman who aims to make it big and this is what her detractors have used - they have unleashed the gossip machine.

My personal take is that, if they are having a good time, let it be their private affair. The nosey agency and the mullahs should stay away from them. But if indeed the Bilawal-Hina affair translates into something concrete, it would be a love story that may be injurious for them domestically.

But 'Bilhina' as a power couple in Pakistan would be a global public diplomacy coup, that Pakistan may badly need to repair its global image.

The jet-set ways of SM Krishna

External Affairs Minister SM Krishna.

At 80, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna is still one of the most active ministers around. Given his gruelling travel schedule, you can't blame Krishna for enjoying the pleasure of flying. On official tours to North America, the minister has become fond of using the luxurious personal suites on the A-380 - used by Emirates for the long-haul flight to the US via Dubai.

The minister is allowed to fly first class for foreign tours, though his aides say that he only does it if the scheduling of flights permits that. A section in the foreign office, however, was busy circulating stories on how the minister missed two important meetings, that of the G-4 foreign ministers and of the IBSA ministerial meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) for his Dubai detour. But Krishna, whose UNGA speech took Pakistan head on over Kashmir, clearly wanted to ensure that he arrived in the Big Apple all comfortable and not jet lagged.

Bollywood's lead role in Indian diplomacy

India's diplomatic tango with Spain is buzzing more through Bollywood than the official channel. So when the Spanish King Juan Carlos comes calling to India for an official tour on October 25, he will have a date with the cast of Zindagi Na Milega Dobara - Abhay Deo, Farhan Akhtar, Hrithik Roshan and Katrina Kaif to celebrate the Bollywood hit, which promoted Spain as a tourist destination.

The famous Tomatina festival, the bull racing in Pamplona and flamenco dancing were among the Spanish customs depicted in the film. The roadtrip movie also featured breathtaking Spanish locales, which did wonders in promoting Spain as a tourist destination.

The cast of the film is excited at doing their bit to further Indo-Spanish ties and spreading Indian culture into Iberian territory.

The film depicted several Spanish festivals and its scenic beauty, helping promote Spain as a tourist destination

"We are looking forward to meeting the King of Spain," Abhay Deol, one of the movie's actors, told me. "We enjoyed shooting in Spain and we were told after the film was released that over 100,000 Indian tourists visited Spain. Films help you understand a country better."

Abhay is right, films can often promote better understanding between two countries. In fact it may be a good idea to promote some Bollywood diplomacy, even with a difficult neighbour like China. Sometimes cinema can help cement ties where political diplomacy fails.

-- India and Pakistan are still struggling with a trust deficit, but a District Coordination Officer in Lahore deserves praise for doing his bit for peace. Over the weekend, the Pakistani official directed the city of Lahore to rename Shadman Chowk in Lahore as Bhagat Singh Chowk. "Bhagat Singh was martyred at this place after he fought the British army by raising a slogan of revolution in the subcontinent," said the DCO. A symbolic baby step, but one that is still a building block for the relationship.