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Vajpayee's speech, a bid to regain initiative

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI April 18. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, could not have chosen a better place than Srinagar to change India's recent disturbing tone on Pakistan and create some useful diplomatic space for the Government.

Mr. Vajpayee did not say anything to suggest that India is departing from current stance on negotiating with Pakistan. New Delhi is unlikely to sit down for talks with Islamabad, unless there is a conducive environment.

"We are again extending the hand of friendship, but hands should be extended by both sides," he said in his address at a public meeting in Srinagar.

In avoiding the usual cliches on cross-border terrorism and in reaffirming New Delhi's commitment to address both the internal and external dimensions of the Kashmir question, Mr. Vajpayee has begun to pull India out of the diplomatic corner it had pushed itself into.

Mr. Vajpayee cannot but be aware of the extraordinary opportunity that the successful elections a few months ago in Jammu and Kashmir has provided India in confidently dealing with the long-festering problems relating to the State. The international endorsement of the elections in Kashmir as free and fair and the rising popular hopes in the State for a new beginning have meant that New Delhi, after a long time, is in a position to regain the political initiative in Kashmir.

On the external side, India seemed to squander this advantage by merely repeating the mantra that there can be no dialogue with Pakistan without an end to cross-border terrorism.

India is right in pointing out that Pakistan has not fulfilled its promises to permanently end the infiltration of terrorists into Kashmir.

But the Government's position appeared increasingly negative without any room for diplomatic manoeuvre.

By making a positive presentation of India's position, including its determination to resolve the Kashmir question through dialogue, Mr. Vajpayee is dispelling the impression that New Delhi has no desire to engage Islamabad.

The belligerent rhetoric from different sections of the Government in the last few weeks had created an impression across the world that India has, for domestic political reasons, shut the door on Pakistan.

Islamabad had been campaigning in major capitals that irrespective of what actions it took New Delhi was in no mood to talk. India's negative articulation of its position was in many ways reinforcing Pakistan's campaign.

In asserting that "all issues can be resolved through talks", Mr. Vajpayee is sending out a political assurance that if Islamabad can be persuaded to create an appropriate environment, New Delhi will be ready for a substantive dialogue on the full agenda of India-Pakistan relations, including the Kashmir question.

Mr. Vajpayee's remarks come at a time when there is renewed international concern about an impending India-Pakistan conflict this summer amidst rising infiltration and violence in the State.

By recalibrating India's arguments on engaging Pakistan and presenting them in a forward-looking manner, the Prime Minister has put India in a better position to deal with the emerging international diplomatic activism on Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations.

A sense of disbelief, surprise in Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, April 18. Is it correct? Have we heard it correctly?

This is the reaction of the Pakistani establishment to the statement of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, extending a ``hand of friendship and offer of talks'' made in Srinagar earlier in the day.

The sense of ``disbelief'' was evident from the reaction of the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Khursid Mahmud Kasuri, to the news. In a telephonic interview from Riyadh to the State-run Pakistan Television, Mr. Kasuri hoped that there would be no ``clarification'' from India or even from Mr. Vajpayee on the statement attributed to him.

The Minister has dashed off to Saudi Arabia on an invitation from Arab States for consultations on a post-Saddam Iraq. Of course, he was ``thrilled'' over the development.

Mr. Kasuri termed it a ``positive'' movement forward in India-Pakistan relations and said that it would bring down the ``temperature''. Mr. Kasuri said that Pakistan in the past had extended an invitation to Mr. Vajpayee and the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, to visit Pakistan to attend SAARC summit.

``We hope they would respond positively when we extend another invitation as and when the SAARC summit dates are finalised'', he said.

A positive gesture

The Pakistan Information Minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, hailed it as a `positive gesture'. An enthusiastic Mr. Rashid declared that if India took one step towards peace, Pakistan would take two.

``This is what we have been saying all along. There can be no military solution to any problem. All issues, including Kashmir, must be resolved through talks across the table,'' he said. Mr. Rashid said this was the approach of the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, at the Agra Summit in July 2001 and it failed to yield any tangible benefit for India and Pakistan due to the attitude of `hard-liners' in India. He, however, did not wish to venture any guess on the `sudden change in the Indian attitude'.

He agreed with the suggestion of a journalist that it could be the result of `international pressure'.

The Pakistan Foreign Office, however, was cautious.

It would like to see the text of Mr. Vajpayee's statement before giving a formal response. It is all the more felt necessary considering the recent bitter exchange of words between New Delhi and Islamabad over ``pre-emptive strikes''.

In a related development, the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, said that Pakistan stood for peace, development and progress of SAARC region.

Talking to a delegation of journalists from Nepal which called on him in Rawalpindi this morning, Gen. Musharraf said that peace was essential to enable the utilisation of the resources of the region for ``improving the living standard of our peoples.''

Significantly, he did not comment either on the recent statements emanating from New Delhi or the circumstances under which Pakistan was compelled to postpone the proposed SAARC summit in January this year.

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