Hopes rise for a productive summit

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, JULY 14. As a truant monsoon returned to the capital to end the oppressive heat of the last few days, the visiting Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf's talks with the top layer of the Indian political establishment today raised hopes of a ``fresh start'' in bilateral relations.

The first round of consultations between the Indian leaders and Gen. Musharraf, who arrived here this morning to a warm and ceremonial reception, helped clear the air.

While a political breakthrough in bilateral relations may remain elusive at Agra, the prospect for a productive summit appear to have improved. The mood has certainly lightened after a week of intense posturing on Kashmir by Pakistan.

Highly-placed sources in both delegations talked of the ``pleasant nature'' of the conversations today and their hopes for a substantive engagement between Gen. Musharraf and the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, tomorrow.

Neither side is promising that an accommodation of each other's principal political concerns is at hand. But they are suggesting that the interaction today had generated enough grounds for optimism about the talks.

``It is the commencement of a journey and the beginning of a process,'' the spokesperson of the Indian Foreign Office said summing up the talks today between Gen. Musharraf and the Indian leaders, including the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, the Home Minister, Mr. L.K. Advani, and the Leader of the Opposition, Ms. Sonia Gandhi.

Mr. Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf had their first informal chat just before they went into a luncheon hosted by the Prime Minister this afternoon. The two leaders seemed to get along well; this should bode well for their talks tomorrow. Calling the talks ``positive, purposeful and constructive'', the spokesperson said the Indian leaders took the opportunity ``to convey feelings, stress concerns and define interests''. Sources in the Pakistan delegation too echoed the positive assessment of the Indian side. They talked of the ``many expectations'' that Gen. Musharraf had from the visit and his desire to define a new relationship with India.

On the first day of Gen. Musharraf's visit, it was not all nice words and polite conversation. Neither India nor Pakistan pulled any punches in underscoring their core political concerns.

Gen. Musharraf, in a statement distributed immediately after his arrival, reiterated Pakistan's focus on Jammu and Kashmir.

The Indian leaders who met him were equally emphatic in stating India's concerns about cross-border terrorism and the demand for a relationship with Pakistan that was free from violence.

The sources suggested that the talks tomorrow would address the key political concerns of each country. Contrary to speculation in sections of the media, the Agra talks are unlikely to explore solutions to long-standing problems between the two countries such as Jammu and Kashmir.

The focus, instead, is on finding appropriate mechanisms to deal with the core concerns of each other. Pakistan is said to be looking for a framework to facilitate sustained and intensive negotiations on Kashmir.

While India may be prepared to explore the idea of a Joint Working Group to deal with the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, it wants Pakistan to consider the establishment of a similar mechanism to address Indian concerns on cross-border terrorism.

Officials from both sides are tight-lipped about the consultations on a negotiating framework, which are reported to be in an advanced stage. The delegations, however, have their fingers crossed; they believe a spanner could still be thrown into the works.

At Agra, India and Pakistan might also discuss the prospects of reviving the talks on nuclear and conventional confidence- building measures. The international community is quite keen to see movement in this field to reduce the danger of a potential conflict in the subcontinent.

Sources in the delegations suggest that the biggest challenge may lie in finalising mechanisms to address the core political concerns of the other. If that threshold is crossed, a whole range of other agreed decisions, on subjects of bilateral relations could be generated.

If that comes to pass, the summit could truly turn out to be a ``new beginning''. But considerable distance, informed sources in both delegations insist, remains to be traversed at Agra.

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