Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz appears relaxed and genial. He has just been preaching the virtues of his economic reforms to regional financiers at the annual Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong - a walk in the park for the former Citibank executive.
Relaxed is, of course, a relative term in Pakistani politics. Like his boss, President Pervez Musharraf, Mr Aziz has been the target of assassins. While campaigning in July 2004, he was attacked in his car by a suicide bomber in a town near the capital, Islamabad. His chauffeur was killed, along with eight others.
There can be few tougher political assignments than being a state leader in Pakistan, given the pressures from Islamic leaders amid the US-led 'war on terror'. Not only is Mr Aziz driving a reform agenda in a once-hidebound economy but, with General Musharraf, he must juggle an alliance with the US and its new ally, Afghanistan.
The relationships are dogged by fears that Pakistan is too close to a resurgent Taleban and its al-Qaeda brethren across the border.
His visit to Hong Kong comes at a time when tensions are particularly acute. Protests over the suspension of the head of Pakistan's Supreme Court are being seen as General Musharraf's toughest political test since taking power in a military coup in 1999. His dumping of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry threatens to galvanise a previously weak and splintered opposition ahead of elections slated for October.
Security surrounding Mr Aziz is tight, even in Hong Kong. Police bomb-sniffing dogs are sent in before he goes anywhere, and visitors are screened.
