Hinduism, Bushism

Hinduism, Bushism

Hinduism, Bushism
Published: May 31 2005 03:00 | Last updated: May 31 2005 03:00

In Moscow the other day, Observer's man on the ground happened to be standing nearby when President George W. Bush and the first lady bumped into Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, as they waited their turn to be seated for an official lunch.

Turning to his wife, Bush said: "Laura, you gotta meet Man-mo-han Singh from India. It's a democracy with the largest Muslim population in the world, and you know what, there is not a single member of Al-Qaeda among them. Isn't that fantastic?"

Observer could not catch the Sikh's rather quieter reply. But he and India's 140m Muslims will be hoping Bush overcomes his cultural stereotyping before they welcome him on his official visit to India at the end of the year.