George Clooney working out of Delhi

Hollywood comes to India [ Images ] sporadically, in small, paparazzi-driven doses, usually to vacation, check out the exotica they hope to find on offer, scout a location, or just gorge on the curry.

Philanthropy has its occasional takers, but diplomacy hasn't seen a name quite as prominent as George Clooney [ Images ], up for the Best Actor Oscar this year for his work in Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton.

Clooney gave the Screen Actors Guild Awards a miss, despite being a nominee (Daniel Day-Lewis took home the trophy for There Will Be Blood), and was to be found instead in New Delhi [ Images ], where he played diplomat.

Clooney had dinner with additional secretary Vivek Katju, and received a briefing on India's peacekeeping operations from defence secretary Vijay Singh [ Images ].

This is part of the actor's new designation as the UN's Messenger Of Peace, and ties in well with his consistent attempts at raising awareness of the genocide in Darfur -- the region of Western Sudan where India has deployed the largest UN peacekeeping contingent.

Photograph: Getty Images