'Call me Dave' has upset several Pakistani cheeses. He is not happy at reports of Pakistan intelligence agents helping the Taliban in Afghanistan. He is in India and his remarks have gone down very well with his hosts. Any criticism of Pakistan, a neighbour and a rival to India, is welcomed.
However there is a very different diplomatic event taking place simultaneously in India which has been kept very quiet. General Than Shwe, the Burmese dictator and a front runner in the 'World's Most Horrible Man' contest, is currently on a 5 day state visit. As BBC online reports there will be little fuss about the visit.
"When Than Shwe meets Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Hyderabad House in Delhi, there will be no press conference, not even a sound bite. Silence will be guaranteed.
After giving its full-throated support to the democratic movement after the 1990 elections in Burma, India has studiously wooed the generals - who first lived in Rangoon and now reside in the new capital of Naypyitaw - for over a decade.
With the one-party state of China by its side already, Than Shwe will be keen to ensure India's silence - and possibly by extension, support - for the elections, which will not see the participation of jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's now disbanded National League for Democracy (NLD).
As China's strategic shadow looms large over Burma, India will allow Than Shwe to pay homage for the second time in six years at Mahatma Gandhi's memorial in Delhi during his visit."
I wonder what Mahatma Gandhi - an apostle of peace and non-violence - would make of one of the worlds most brutal men paying his respects?
Call me Dave has also been very quiet on this issue.
As Kissinger said, "We don't have friends or allies, we only have interests."
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