French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his girlfriend Carla Bruni

India's moral brigade is salivating at the prospect of handling the French President's sweetheart. Used to receiving the wives of heads of State, New Delhi is in a dilemma as to what to do if Nicolas Sarkozy comes along with girlfriend Carla Bruni. The dashing French President who does not care at all as to what the world thinks about his romp with the pretty damsel will be India's chief guest at the country's Republic Day celebration on January 26. This is also where the latest military hardware will be displayed.

Never before in India's history has a President or Prime Minister come visiting with a companion, and Sarkozy's India tour comes soon after the red faces he caused in Egypt and Jordan as he strolled on the streets hand in hand with Bruni. ?The two could be seen two giggling like teens in the first flush of love. Only the French can do this.

But in the meanwhile, India's Foreign Ministry has pressed the panic button. It has asked Paris how exactly New Delhi ought to address her – first lady, girlfriend or delegate.

And there are a host of other issues to be sorted out. Should they be given separate bedrooms in hotels, should they be seated next to each other at official functions and other ceremonies, and should Bruni be included in addresses by India's Prime Minister and President?

In an India that is dangerously moralistic, Bruni is sure to create a storm, particularly if she decides to share the same bed with Sarkozy or hold hands or give him a peck when they are out in public places like, for instance, the Taj Mahal. And everybody goes to the Taj, that marble wonder of love and passion.

Despite liberal pockets of influence, most of India is frighteningly conservative, where landlords do not rent out their flats to unmarried couples, where radical rightwing politicians and their goons pounce on dating couples, where even something as innocuous as Valentine's Day celebrations are brutally stopped and where exposing skin is akin to sin. It is here in this arena that Sarkozy and Bruni are to troop in, French manners and mores all thrown in, where the nation's sex-and-so-what attitude will be exhibited under the glare of popping flashbulbs.

Indian paparazzi, fed on titillation from the foreign Press and on the country's own fast-turning aggressive television channels, has already gone to town with pictures of the French love couple, provoking the moral spoilsports into a state of frenzy.