Shadows and substance

THE POLITICAL MYSTIQUE of the prospective meeting between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Pakistan's President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, is being fostered by them in divergent ways. Surely, the deeply encrusted line of mistrust on the bilateral front is not easy to surmount, and there is no room for grand illusions. So, it is no surprise that the rainbow of hope, a promise that took shape as Mr. Vajpayee invited Gen. Musharraf for substantive talks in Agra on July 15, may now appear to have receded in a pre-summit storm of political suspicions. However, it is a good sign that New Delhi and Islamabad seem to be aware of the dangers of allowing the controversy over the summit-related status of the All Party Hurriyat Conference to spiral out of control. Ignoring Mr. Vajpayee's eagerness to keep the Hurriyat out of the India- Pakistan dialogue process, Gen. Musharraf has made no secret of his move to engage the APHC leadership in New Delhi on the eve of the Agra summit. Yet, the Vajpayee administration has the chance to abide by its own first reaction of treating Gen. Musharraf's invitation to the Hurriyat as a non-issue of peripheral significance to the planned summit in Agra. Islamabad, too, should ensure that its enthusiasm for ascertaining the wishes of the Hurriyat leadership in a direct dialogue does not wreck the spirit of the imminent India-Pakistan summit.

India, an emerging power, does not stand to lose its status or strength as a consequence of any conversation between Pakistan and the Hurriyat, although the Vajpayee dispensation had in recent months raised a hue and cry over this issue. Moreover, Islamabad's official portrayal of its decision to interact with the Hurriyat at this stage is not reflective of any disruptive design by Gen. Musharraf to organise a mini-summit within a major summit. Apparently as some concession to New Delhi's known sensitivity, Islamabad has indicated that Gen. Musharraf might in some unspecified manner engage the Hurriyat leaders over tea on the occasion of a formal reception to be hosted in his honour by the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi on July 14. A plan of this social-cultural proportion can be interpreted as some form of non-abrasive diplomacy. In fact, the Hurriyat leaders reportedly want to engage Gen. Musharraf within a formal framework rather than on the sidelines of a social event. The Hurriyat dispensation is no less eager to prove its legitimacy as a key `Kashmiri' outfit. This explains why it is still angling for an invitation from Mr. Vajpayee too at this juncture. India and Pakistan are, nonetheless, far from pronouncing the final word on the relevance, if any, of the `Kashmiri' groups on both sides of the Line of Control to a final settlement of the issue that certainly concerns them too.

New Delhi and Islamabad have rightly painted the proposals for the agenda of their upcoming summit in broad strokes. It is, therefore, counter-productive to view Mr. Vajpayee's new initiative in regard to the peace-and-security paradigm of bilateral relations as a move to checkmate Gen. Musharraf in his perceived bid to turn their planned summit into an intensive dialogue exclusively on the Kashmir dispute. Yet, in a benign sense, the questions raised by Mr. Vajpayee constitute the core stuff of a critical mass for long-term peace on the India- Pakistan front. He wants some top military officials of the two countries to come up with ideas for lasting peace along the Line of Control and in Siachen. A call to devise confidence-building measures for bilateral nuclear security has also been underlined by him, while Pakistan wants a no-war pact. These and other issues can be discussed meaningfully if the two sides manage to sustain the momentum generated by their latest acts of mutual goodwill in releasing some civilian prisoners.

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Section  : Opinion
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