Asif Ali Zardari completed one year in office with his presidency dogged by the chill in Indo-Pak relations post 26/11 as he confronts with problems of credibility and public perception that he lacks experience to overcome problems ranging from economic woes to a Taliban insurgency.
The 54-year-old widower of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto is still plagued by links to corruption scandals dating back to his days as a federal minister in the 1980s, with numerous SMS jokes still referring to him as “Mr 10 per cent“.
Mr. Zardari, who completed one year in office on Wednesday, and his party-led government are under pressure from the US and international community besides India to act against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
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Though he tried to normalise relations with India during a meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Russia in June, the Indian leader publicly snubbed him, saying his mandate was to tell him to act against terrorists targeting India.
Pakistan tried to resume the Composite Dialogue, which was put on hold by India after the attacks in Mumbai, but New Delhi has clearly told that it cannot be resumed till Islamabad acts against the attackers.