Pak. response positive

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MAY 23. Pakistan's military regime, apparently caught unawares by New Delhi's proposed invitation to Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is most likely to respond positively. And if it does so, it will be despite all the pressure from within.

The difficulties ahead for the Musharraf Government was evident even from the early reactions of the Pakistan-based militant organisations. The Lashkar-e-Taiba denounced the invitation as yet another `gimmick' and urged the military government not to get into the `trap' of diplomatic talks.

Readiness of Gen. Musharraf to meet the Indian leaders could be expected to be formally announced at a news conference scheduled here tomorrow at the Foreign Office. Although the press meet was scheduled before the announcement from New Delhi, the latest developments are bound to dominate the conference.

Inclination of Pakistan to respond positively to the invitation from the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, was evident from the brief comment made by the Pakistani Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inamul Haq, on the state-owned Pakistan Television (PTV). ``If and when an invitation is received Pakistan would respond positively,'' the Foreign Secretary said. He reminded the repeated statements of Gen. Musharraf to hold a dialogue with the Indian leadership ``at any where, any time and at any level''.

Tripartite dialogue

This has been the position of the military government for several months now. When India announced the Ramazan initiative in November, in response Islamabad came out with its own formulation seeking a tripartite dialogue involving representatives of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Pakistan.

The ceasefire process almost got derailed when India refused permission to a delegation of the APHC to visit Islamabad for discussions to move towards a tripartite process. It was clear by February that there was no meeting point between New Delhi and Islamabad when the military government joined the militant groups in denouncing the ceasefire as a `meaningless exercise'.

The latest initiative from New Delhi has come just days before the Foreign Secretaries of India and Pakistan are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the SAARC meeting in Colombo in the first week of June.

The announcement from New Delhi was preceded by an interesting meeting between Gen. Musharraf and Delhi's Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari, who is supposed to be here as part of Track-II diplomacy. Surprisingly, his visit has evoked vicious reaction from the jehadi groups in Pakistan. They have accused him attempting to broker peace on behalf of Indian and U.S. Governments.

The militant outfits in Pakistan cannot be expected to take kindly to the audience granted to Shahi Imam by Gen. Musharraf. An official statement about the meeting said, ``they remained together for some time and exchanged views on matters of mutual interest''.

Later, the Lashkar spokesman, Mr. Yahya Mujaheed, told The Hindu over the telephone from Lahore that the latest initiative by New Delhi is yet another fraud. ``We appeal to the Chief Executive of Pakistan not to respond to the invitation as it is yet another trap. In our perception India is preparing to attack Pakistan''.

He claimed that the `double face' of the Indian Government was evident during the so-called ceasefire since November. The Lashkar spokesman alleged that India had stepped its attack on innocent citizens in Kashmir during the last few months.

The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen spokesman, Mr. Salim Hashmi, did not want to comment on the invitation. But he was eloquent on the decision of the Government to call off the ceasefire and said that there was never any ceasefire on the ground.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Front Page
Previous : Ceasefire off, Musharraf invited
Next     : GoM for new security setup