Clinton’s ‘roving eye’, Sarkozy’s arrogance, Diana’s warmth: Sonia Gandhi retells encounters with world leaders

Sonia Gandhi travelled with two Prime Ministers— Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi — and her memoir Belonging is filled with anecdotes about her meeting world leaders.

For instance, she writes about noticing Bill Clinton’s roving eye at Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton, she talks about Nikolas Sarkozy’s “arrogant manner” during his India visit, and about a lighthearted interaction with Princess Diana, who spoke to Gandhi’s mother in Italian and called her “Nonna”.

“The Monica Lewinsky scandal had subsided a little by then but old habits die hard; at the reception held by Prime Minister Vajpayee in his honour, I noticed him [Clinton] every now and then surreptitiously sizing up the more striking women present,” she writes.

Also Read: Little real contact with Modi, but there is some common ground: Sonia Gandhi in memoir Belonging

During the 2010 Commonwealth Games, then PM Manmohan Singh held a dinner in honour of Prince Charles and Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall. At the dinner, Prince Edward greeted Gandhi and Singh, and then turned to the other ministers “And you lot – who are you? A stunned silence followed. Pranab ji, drawing up to his full height of five foot three inches, said stiffly, “I am Pranab Mukherjee, the finance minister of India, and these are my cabinet colleagues.”