Bilateral bonhomie

Published : Oct 22, 2004 00:00 IST

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in New York on September 24. -

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in New York on September 24. -

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf discuss bilateral issues, including Kashmir, with greater understanding during their hour-long meeting in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.

The dialogue between the two countries, which started in the beginning of the year, has obviously had a calming effect on both Islamabad and New Delhi, though Pakistani officials have made it clear on many occasions that they were not happy with the pace of the negotiations, particularly with what they feel is the failure of the Indian side to focus seriously on the Kashmir issue.

The meeting between the two leaders was scheduled for only 15 minutes but went on for more than an hour. It was evident after the talks that the chemistry between the two leaders was excellent. Manmohan Singh jocularly told the Pakistan President that it was an accident of history that both of them were occupying their present positions. He said that they were both, in a sense, "refugees". Musharraf was born in Delhi while Manmohan Singh was born in an area of Punjab that today belongs to Pakistan. The Indian Prime Minister told Musharraf that both of them also did not hanker after the posts they are currently holding. The one-on-one meeting between the two leaders took place without any officials being present even to take down notes.

Manmohan Singh later told the media in New York that the Pakistani leader spoke with great sincerity and wanted to correct the notion that he was a man with a "unifocal vision". He added that during the talks both of them wanted "across-the-board progress on issues". He also emphasised that there was no deadline or a fixed timetable attached to the bilateral talks.

The Indian Prime Minister described the outcome of the talks as "very good". He said that both countries had agreed to carry forward the composite dialogue process. This understanding, the Prime Minister emphasised, augured well for the future of bilateral ties.

A joint statement was issued after the meeting between the two leaders. Both sides agreed "to strive to restore normalcy and cooperation" in the spirit of the January 6, 2004 statement signed by former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Musharraf. The joint statement released in New York said that the two leaders "agreed that confidence-building measures (CBMs) of all categories under discussion between the two governments should be implemented keeping in mind practical possibilities. They also addressed the issue of Jammu and Kashmir and agreed that possible options for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the issue should be explored in a sincere spirit and a purposeful manner".

The two leaders, addressing a joint press conference after their meeting, talked about the "possibility" of a gas pipeline from Iran to India passing through Pakistan. The Energy Ministers of the two countries are scheduled to meet in the near future to discuss the issue. Both sides seem to be in favour of the concept of a "soft border" in the divided State of Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi seems to have softened its positions on the issue of passports for Kashmiris and may settle for some other form of documentation for those who wish to travel across the Line of Control (LoC). Both sides may agree to do away with "visas" for people from the divided State. For the first time, New Delhi gave permission to a group of prominent Pakistani mediapersons to visit Jammu and Kashmir and interact freely with the people there in early October.

Manmohan Singh told the media in New York that his meeting with Musharraf was "a significant step forward" as well as "historic in more ways than one". The Indian Prime Minister went on to add that the joint statement issued after his talks with the Pakistani President committed the two countries "to advance beyond what was agreed to in the January 6 statement both in terms of discussing confidence-building measures as well as moving to discuss complex issues relating to the State of Jammu and Kashmir".

THERE was immediate criticism of the joint statement from the main Opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on the grounds that it did not refer to the issue of cross-border terrorism. There were allegations that the Indian Prime Minister did not raise the issue of cross-border terrorism during his talks with the Pakistani President. On his return to New Delhi, Manmohan Singh wasted no time in clarifying that the issue of terrorism did in fact figure in his talks with the Pakistani President. Indian officials, however, admit that there has been a drop in the numbers of infiltrators from across the LoC, though terrorist camps continue to be located across the border.

There were also speculative stories in the Indian media about an impending agreement on Siachen. The speculation was generated by an article in a leading Pakistani daily saying that Musharraf had given an assurance to the Indian Prime Minister that Pakistani forces will not seize the Siachen glacier, if Indian troops were to withdraw from the disputed heights. However, Indian officials have clarified that the issue never came up for discussion during the meeting between Musharraf and Manmohan Singh. The official Indian position on Siachen remains unchanged. "We want delineation on the ground and a signed agreement, so that the Pakistanis will not later violate an agreement," said a senior Indian official. He said that there was "no question of vacating the heights which we occupied after a great sacrifice". The official also played down a news story appearing in a recent issue of Time magazine that New Delhi was willing to redraw the LoC, making some territorial concessions to Pakistan in the process.

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