Mood upbeat in Pakistan

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, MAY 30. A day after the Pakistan Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, replied to the invitation extended to him by the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, to visit New Delhi for peace talks, there is a sense of elation here.

It is indeed a tribute to the craftsmanship of the Pakistan Foreign Office that there is not a single dissenting voice on the contents of Gen. Musharraf's letter to Mr. Vajpayee. It is believed to have been drafted by the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr. Inamul Haq. Even the militant and religious organisations that have been counselling Gen. Musharraf not to respond to Mr. Vajpayee's invitation have maintained a diplomatic silence.

A senior official in the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said the dates for Gen. Musharraf's visit would be finalised through the diplomatic channels. ``The Chief Executive has already indicated the broad time-frame in his interview to the BBC. It is now for the Indian Government to indicate the convenience of Mr. Vajpayee.''

Asked about the possibility of consultations with the militant, religious and political parties and speculation over a round table conference, the official dismissed the idea as ``fertile imagination of some journalists''.

There could be informal consultations with those concerned, if necessary. ``If the Government thinks that such consultations are needed, they would be held. At this juncture, the Government does not feel the need for such a process,'' he said.

The careful drafting of the reply seems to have done the trick vis-a-vis the hardliners and hawks. This is evident from the reaction of the Hizbul Mujahideen, which had expressed serious reservations on the utility of talks between India and Pakistan.

``We are happy that Gen. Musharraf in his letter to the Indian Prime Minister has made it a point to mention Kashmir as the core issue between India and Pakistan. Let the process of dialogue begin at the bilateral level but we insist that involvement of Kashmiris is a must for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute to the satisfaction of all the parties. The bilateral process should lead to a trilateral dialogue,'' the Hizbul spokesman, Mr. Salim Hashmi, said.

Even the hardliners are not expected to create any major hurdle in the proposed visit of Gen. Musharraf to New Delhi. When the Pakistani daily, The News, approached the former ISI chief and known hardliner for his reaction on the letter of the Chief Executive, his response was: ``I don't think Gen. Musharraf will sell us out. All other outstanding issues are in reality a corollary of the Kashmir issue and once Kashmir issue is settled, all other issues like Siachin Glacier and Wullar Barrage will automatically be settled.''

There is no reaction from the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the most militant among the Pakistan based outfits, to the letter. There is no reference to Gen. Musharraf's response in the regularly updated and well-maintained website of the organisation. There are a number of statements attributed to its chief, Hafeez Mohammad Sayeed, dubbing the Indian invitation as yet another `trap' but there is not a word on the response of the Chief Executive accepting the invitation.

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