British prime minister David Cameron has revealed a plain-speaking streak during a tour of Turkey and India that raises questions over whether it is down to youthful inexperience or a bold new approach to diplomacy.
He caused anger in Israel by saying in Turkey that Gaza was a "prison camp", and went on to offend Islamabad when he suggested in front of an Indian audience in Bangalore that Pakistan "promoted the export of terror".
While in Ankara, he also dismissed opponents of Turkish membership of the European Union as "protectionist, polarised or prejudiced", an analysis which will not be shared in Paris or Berlin. France and Germany oppose Turkish entry.
"I think it's important, as I say, to speak frankly about these things to countries that are your friends," Mr Cameron said today in an interview with British broadcasters, adding that he would "do so in the future" as well.
At 43, Mr Cameron is the youngest British prime minister in nearly two centuries. He has been in office since May.
His comments on Pakistan delighted the Indian media, which devoted much of its coverage of his visit to the subject, to the detriment of his core message that he wanted to boost trade and business links between Britain and India.
Pakistan said it was ?saddened? by his remarks that it was exporting terror, adding these did not reflect ground realities.
"Obviously, we are saddened by Prime Minister Cameron?s remarks in Bangalore to an Indian audience. These remarks are contrary to the facts on the ground," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit told a news briefing.
Mr Basit said Mr Cameron?s remarks were prompted by classified US military reports published by the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website. Some of the classified reports appear to reveal that Pakistan secretly aided Taliban militants while taking billions of dollars in US aid.
"You can never draw the right conclusions from misguided reports," Mr Basit said.
"We should not be creating unnecessary hype around these reports and get distracted."
The 77,000 classified documents tangentially deal with Pakistan and the alleged involvement of its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency in the Afghan insurgency.
Pakistan's high commissioner to Britain, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, called Mr Cameron's comments "completely contrary to the realities on the ground".
"A bilateral visit (to India) aimed at attracting business could have been conducted without damaging the prospects of regional peace," he wrote in a column in today's edition of the Guardian.
Israeli ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, was equally unimpressed. "The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organisation Hamas," he said in a sharp retort to Mr Cameron's "prison camp" comment.
In a briefing with British journalists covering the tour, foreign secretary William Hague came under a barrage of questions today on whether Mr Cameron might watch his words more carefully in future.
"The prime minister speaks the truth and we are all united and clear and happy about what he said," Mr Hague said.
"The prime minister is a great diplomat and I see that in action every day when he's dealing with foreign leaders. He is a natural at it, so I don't think you need to be worried on that score," he said.
Asked in his interview with British broadcasters whether he regretted damaging relations with Pakistan ahead of the meeting, he said: "I don't accept that they have been damaged ... I look forward to discussing these and other issues [with Mr Zardari]."
Reuters