Pakistan’s Foreign Minister: Clothes Maketh the Man

Do manners maketh a man? Do clothes matter? Does the tie around his neck or the kerchief in his pocket say something about him? Or, in the case of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri, do his bejewelled cufflinks convey a hint of his personality? They may not be Van Cleef and Arpels but they’re certainly Lahori bijoux! My answer is a definite, if tongue-in-cheek, yes.

I first met Khurshid Kasuri in Washington early last year. I was staying with his Ambassador, Ashraf Qazi, an old and dear friend, whilst Kasuri was at one of the city’s better hotels. On my first morning Ashraf took me to his Foreign Minister’s for breakfast. As we walked out of his S Street residence and stepped into the ambassadorial limo Ashraf conspiratorially whispered in my ear. ‘You’re in for a bit of a surprise. I wonder what you’re going to make of Kasuri…