The Hindu : Vajpayee will just say `hello'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 26, 2003

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Vajpayee will just say `hello'

By Amit Baruah

The Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, with the former Prime Ministers, V.P. Singh and I.K.Gujral, and the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, at a `kavi sammelan' to mark his 79 birthday in New Delhi on Thursday. — Photo: Rajeev Bhatt

NEW DELHI DEC. 25. There will be no formal bilateral segment to the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's January 4-6 visit to Islamabad for the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit.

Unlike Lahore (February 1999) and Agra (July 2001) when Mr. Vajpayee travelled to Pakistan and the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, came to India for bilateral visits, Islamabad will formally remain a multilateral visit for the Prime Minister, despite the promise of bilateral meetings with Pakistani leaders.

Though there remains an element of suspense about "when" Mr. Vajpayee will meet Gen. Musharraf or even the Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, the Pakistan-watchers in the capital are clear that bilateral meetings will take place on the sidelines of the summit.

Highly-placed Government sources revealed that several Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs, who deal with bilateral relations in South Asia, including Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan desks, will be in Islamabad before the Prime Minister arrives for the summit.

However, former ambassador, Surinder K. Arora, currently convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Foreign Affairs Committee, was careful in his comments. "So far nothing [no bilateral meetings] have been fixed," Mr. Arora told this correspondent today.

Reiterating the traditional BJP line that meaningful dialogue was only possible when Pakistan abandoned the policy of cross-border terrorism, Mr. Arora said "Saying hello does not mean getting down to a serious dialogue."

Stressing the need for improving economic and cultural linkages, he pointed to the fact that the contentious border issue had been sidelined by India and China as they improved relations and forged ahead in other areas. Pakistan, he added, should do the same with Kashmir.

Senior Congress leader, K. Natwar Singh, was far more upbeat about the prospects of bilateral meetings with the Pakistani leadership in Islamabad. "It [Mr. Vajpayee's visit] will generate a lot of goodwill," he said.

However, Mr. Singh, too, is cautious about the end results. "Nothing spectacular can be expected," he said about the likely meetings in Islamabad. "Gen. Musharraf did not give much when he referred to setting aside the United Nations resolutions on Kashmir. And, then he got Mr. Jamali to uphold the resolutions."

"They will be in the same room and it's a good thing they meet," the Congress Working Committee member said about Mr. Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf's presence in Islamabad.

The climate is such that relations will improve, Mr. Singh said. Asked if he expected that there would be a formal announcement regarding the resumption of bilateral discussions between India and Pakistan, he said the dialogue would have begun automatically once the leaders meet.

J.N. Dixit, former High Commissioner to Pakistan, told this correspondent, "I am glad that the Prime Minister will meet Mr. Jamali. He should meet Gen. Musharraf as well.

Flowing from Lahore and Agra, Mr. Dixit was hopeful that the two countries would be able to put in place some additional processes as well. Apart from the revival of the formal dialogue, the former High Commissioner was hopeful that India and Pakistan could set up an experts group on the issue of nuclear risk reduction.

The November ceasefire, he felt, could also be extended for an indefinite period. Mr. Dixit said it was unlikely that any formal documents would be issued since the visit was for the SAARC summit.

Mr. Dixit, too, was of the view that there was "no give" in the recent statements made by Gen. Musharraf on the U.N. resolutions. "If you see the text of the Pakistan President's interview to Reuters, there is not a single element of give in it."

Taking a different tack, Satinder Lamba, also a former High Commissioner to Pakistan, hoped that the SAARC meeting should result in substantial progress in economic cooperation within South Asia.

Despite the setback in Islamabad on Wednesday, when SAARC Commerce Secretaries failed to agree on the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) framework, Mr. Lamba was hopeful that this issue would be resolved before the summit.

Mr. Lamba, like Mr. Dixit, felt that one of the spin-offs from Islamabad would be a resumption of the official India-Pakistan dialogue.

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