Foreign media amused by Obama's two left feet

While Indian pundits may have fretted over Barack Obama's failure to censure Pakistan appropriately, Western coverage of the US president's visit to India focused on Michelle Obama's impromptu dance and the college students who asked some 'tough questions'.

Even as the political right, re-energised by its victory in the US mid-term elections, critcised Obama's 'foreign junket', journalists accompanying the president were content to demolish Obama's dancing skills while giving him high marks for not trampling on Pakistan's sensitivities.

"When the kids beckoned, FLOTUS [first lady of the US] jumped up to join, POTUS [president of the US] resisted," narrated a 'pool' report by American journalists on the 'incident'.

"His wife did a remarkable job keeping up with the kids. Then POTUS gave in, did some not-terribly graceful shuffling, then threw in the towel," it added.

But many of the scribes seemed surprised by the incisive tone of
the questions posed by the students. Scott Wilson of The Washington Times, who accompanied the US president on his India visit, was impressed by the 'tough questions' posed by
the youngsters at St Xavier's College, Mumbai, forcing Obama on the "defensive".

"Not only was Obama forced to explain some of the awkward
elements of US policy in South Asia, from support for Pakistan to
his end game in Afghanistan, but he also provided a rare glimpse at the way he approaches his work," Wilson noted in his despatch at the end of the Mumbai leg of the three-day visit.

"Scores of hands shot up each time he sought a new questioner. The questions were probing," noted Erica Werner of Canadian Press.

Some, including Jim Yardley of the Herald Tribune, the global
edition of The New York Times, however, noticed the Pakistan angle, especially in Obama's reception by the Indian political establishment.

"India’s political establishment, if thrilled by the visit, is also
withholding judgment. Mr Obama was faulted in New Delhi for some early missteps, including his comment that China should play an active role in South Asia," he wrote, after reaching Delhi in the evening.

Yardley pointed out that while Obama may have bowled over Mumbaikars with his spontaneity, New Delhi is likely to be a different cup of tea — despite his famed equation with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"His battering in the mid-term elections has raised concerns about his political viability. And many Indian officials still hold a torch for former president George W Bush, who was popular for pushing through a landmark civilian nuclear deal between the two countries," he noted.

CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, however, gave full marks to the president for trying to sell a country to his audience a month after it was portrayed as the land of call centres and outsourcing. He also pointed out that Obama's prompt announcement of $10 billion worth of contracts was aimed at muffling criticism over his 'foreign junket' when his country continued to suffer record unemployment levels.

"It is a delicate balancing act for Obama to promote broader trade relations with India given American frustration with the outsourcing of US jobs to call centres in cities like Bangalore here in India," he noted.

But, perhaps to Obama's relief, most 'foreign' reporters preferred to focus on Obama's two left feet in their reports on the second day.

Even as US netizens kept up a steady stream of 'no more' to Obama's jig, Carol Lee of the Politico newspaper pointed out that Obama did try his best to remain seated. "But eventually he was dragged on the dance floor, an image that will forever exist in video," she rued.