Pak. in a dilemma

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JUNE 2 The postponement of the SAARC Standing Committee meet has left the Pakistan Foreign Office in a dilemma in the context of the proposed summit between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

India and Pakistan are looking forward to the SAARC meet as it would have provided them an opportunity for a dialogue on the nitty-gritty of the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit. The Foreign Secretary of India, Mrs. Chokila Iyer, and her Pakistani counterpart, Mr. Inamul Haq, were scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the SAARC meeting. Though neither side had made any formal move for the meeting, they were looking forward to it.

``It has indeed put us in a bit of a spot. We were looking forward to the meet in Colombo to kick-start the preparations for the summit meeting. Now that the conference has been put off indefinitely, we would have to seriously consider ways and means to establish a contact,'' a senior Pakistan Foreign Office official said.

As a senior diplomat said a great deal of preparation is necessary before any summit meeting. The job becomes all the more difficult if it involved heads of two hostile neighbours such as India and Pakistan.

The Colombo meeting could have provided the right opportunity and atmosphere for the two Foreign Secretaries to do some ground work. ``If not any thing else, it would have helped the two Foreign Secretaries know each other and establish a rapport'', a senior Pakistan diplomat said.

The two sides could now consider establishment of contact in some other way. One possibility is for a team to visit New Delhi for talks with the Foreign Office since the invitation for the summit came from the Indian side.

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