January 06, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 26, 1428

NEW DELHI: The Indian government is struggling to find the right protocol for French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s girlfriend Carla Bruni if she accompanies him to New Delhi, local media said on Saturday.

The newly divorced president is due to arrive in India on Jan 24 and will be the chief guest two days later at Republic Day celebrations marking when India’s republican constitution came into effect in 1950.

Paris has told New Delhi that Sarkozy’s ex-supermodel girlfriend may accompany him on his first official trip to India, the Press Trust of India said, quoting unnamed sources.

The news agency said India’s foreign ministry was in a dither on what protocol to extend to the president’s companion if Bruni, 39, accompanies him to India, known for its sexual conservatism.

Bruni would not be entitled to join Sarkozy, 52, for official engagements as the “girlfriend is not considered wife or spouse,” the Indian Express said in a front-page report.

“Perhaps it’s the first time that we’re faced with such a situation,” a foreign ministry official told the paper which added the ministry and the French government were working out plans.

Bruni could be given privileges extended to a “delegate” accompanying the president, the paper said.

The foreign ministry and French embassy would not comment on the reports.—AFP