Pakistan’s new 34-year-old female foreign minister has won instant fans in India where a flurry of flattering headlines on Wednesday greeted her first trip to the country.
Hina Rabbani Khar appeared to have made an instant impact on one of the world’s most tense bilateral relations, with her photo adorning the front pages of most Indian newspapers.
“Pak Puts On Its Best Face,” said The Times of India, the biggest-selling English-language daily, while mass circulation Hindi newspaper Navbharat Times said India was “sweating over model-like minister.”
“Pak bomb lands in India,” the Mumbai Mirror tabloid joked in a tongue-in-cheek reference to the history of wars between the countries and attacks by Pakistani militant groups on Indian soil.
The Indian media is not known for assessing the dress-sense of Pakistani visitors, but the Mail Today tabloid devoted space to her choice of outfit as she flew in to New Delhi airport on Tuesday.
“The 34-year-old minister scored full marks on the fashion front when she was spotted at the Delhi airport in a monotone outfit of blue — the colour of the season,” it said.
“Tasteful accessories — Roberto Cavalli sunglasses, oversized Hermes Birkin bag and classic pearl jewellery — added a hint of glamour to her look,” it added.
The Indian Twittersphere was also ablaze with commentary on the Pakistani envoy, who was promoted last week to take over from her predecessor Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Many took exception to the intense scrutiny of her appearance and fashion accessories, particularly the luxury Hermes handbag, saying that male visitors to India were never subjected to similar analysis.
But one right-wing blogger, Pragmatic_d, replied: “You don’t carry a bag that is a serious fraction of your country’s fiscal deficit and not expect it to be commented upon.”
Khar’s decision to meet Kashmiri separatists at the start of the trip was a blot on an otherwise positive introduction to the Indian public at a time when the neighbours are attempting to re-invigorate their peace process.
Leading television anchor Barkha Dutt described Khar as “self-assured and easygoing” and someone who “brought some freshness and youth to otherwise formal fare.”
“She continues to dominate all Delhi chatter,” she wrote on Twitter.
The Telegraph newspaper drew comparisons between Khar, a married mother of two who caused a stir at home after being photographed in tight jeans, with her 79-year-old counterpart S.M. Krishna.
“In the unkind world of adjectives, the odds are stacked against SMK and in favour of HRK,” it said, using the ministers’ initials. “Khar carries with ease descriptions such as ‘stunning’ and ‘petite’.”
Journalist and author Seema Goswami saw a link between the monsoonal downpour that struck the Indian capital Wednesday morning and the generally fawning coverage of the freshest face in international diplomacy.
“Even the Delhi skies are drooling,” she wrote.
In Pakistan, headscarf-wearing Khar has drawn inevitable comparisons to Benazir Bhutto, the charismatic female prime minister who was assassinated when trying to regain power in 2007.
Like Bhutto, she comes from one of Pakistan’s leading political and landowning families and her clan has extensive farms in Punjab, the country’s richest and most populous province.
