Pak. dumb-struck

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 18. The military establishment in Islamabad is `dumb-struck' at the `u-turn' by New Delhi on the Agra summit and believes that the latest stance adopted by India is a serious setback to the process of reconciliation and dialogue set in motion during the three-day official visit of the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

No senior official in the Pakistan Government was willing to comment on the cryptic statement made in the evening by the Indian Foreign Office spokesperson, Ms. Nirupama Rao.

``Unless we see the actual content of the statement of the Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson and arrive at a conclusion on the reasons that are behind the latest stance, we are not in a position to offer any reaction,'' was the standard response of the officials of the military establishment.

It is not clear yet if Islamabad would join issue with New Delhi on the assessment of India that the Agra summit is best forgotten and both the countries begin from scratch.

But there is no doubt that the Musharraf Government has every reason to be disappointed with the changed Indian stand. Islamabad had certainly not anticipated the latest development.

The Musharraf Government has compulsions, much more than India, to keep up the pretence of continuing its efforts towards a serious dialogue for normalisation of relations with India. The military government faces much greater pressure than India from the international community to work for peace in the sub- continent.

The managers of the military establishment were quite happy with the press conference addressed by the Foreign Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, at Agra on Tuesday morning wherein he had acknowledged that Mr. Vajpayee and Gen. Musharraf had traversed enough ground in the course of their one-to-one meetings.

The positive spin given by the Pakistan Foreign Minister, Mr. Abdul Sattar, hours after Mr. Jaswant Singh had spoken at Agra appears to have been influenced by the tone and tenor adopted by Mr. Singh. Mr. Sattar, in fact, went much beyond what his Indian counterpart had said about the Agra summit. He not only talked of how close both sides came to an agreement on all major issues of concern between the two countries but also hinted at the possibility of an agreement when the two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations Security Council / General Assembly in New York in September.

``Prime Minister Vajpayee has accepted our President's invitation for a return visit. The two leaders are expected to meet in New York in September and continue efforts to promote agreement. The goodwill between them is an asset for better relations between the two countries,'' Mr. Sattar said in a written statement distributed at the press briefing.

The only development during the day was a meeting of the Cabinet and the National Security Council presided over by Gen. Musharraf in his capacity as President. An official statement on the rare joint meeting of the two bodies merely noted that Gen. Musharraf briefed them on his just-concluded summit-level talks in India.

The team of Gen. Musharraf appears to be thrilled with the performance of the President particularly in front of the media community both in New Delhi and later in Agra.

They are so enamoured of the experience that Gen. Musharraf has decided to address a special press conference on Friday and the Pakistan Government has issued a blanket invitation to Indian scribes to travel to Islamabad to cover the event.

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