Same concerns, different views

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, AUG. 16. Quite a coincidence that the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, found themselves touching upon an identical agenda in their addresses on the Independence Day functions of their countries within a span of 24 hours - on August 14 and 15. Both of them dealt with bilateral relations, Kashmir, nuclear status, economic problems and internal situation. As was natural, these issues were treated from their respective perspectives, mostly on known lines. Two points stood out - one, the commonalities of the problems, confronting their countries and, two, the absence of a meeting point. There was no evidence of a specific plan for their next meeting or of the resolve to achieve what could not be accomplished at Agra. Both of them, however, spoke generally of their desire to continue the dialogue. The level of shrillness of the rhetoric, however, was not as high as had been the case in the past - for instance, in the first half of the 1990s, when the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Ms. Benazir Bhutto's high-pitched shouts of ``Azadi, Azadi, Azadi'', provoked her counterpart, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, into asserting India's claim on Pakistan- occupied Kashmir.

The present nuclear status of each of the two countries was pointedly mentioned in the addresses of their respective heads. Mr. Vajpayee spoke of it at the very start, in a non- confrontationist tone. ``Remember, the many hardships we had to go through three years ago in the aftermath of the nuclear tests at Pokhran. Today those difficulties are receding.'' India's relations with important countries had grown stronger and deeper and it was engaged in a strategic dialogue with them on a regular basis. ``India's prestige has gone up globally,'' he said stressing New Delhi's commitment to peace.

Gen. Musharraf's reference to Pakistan's nuclear status, though brief, was sharp. ``We have everything in Pakistan in terms of both human and material resources... (the armed forces of Pakistan), backed by our nuclear potential provided complete security from external threats.'' As against that, he expressed concern over some domestic factors - ``our threats emanate from within. Our economic malaise, coupled with intolerant extremist attitudes in certain quarters, are termites eating us from within.''

On India-Pakistan relations and the Agra summit, Mr. Vajpayee spoke of his initiative in inviting the Pakistani leader ``despite Kargil and cross-border terrorism'', and added: ``Unfortunately President Musharraf had no interest in improving our relations in all possible areas. He came here with a single- point agenda - to make India accept Pakistan's terms on Kashmir.''

There was a strong note of warning in his address - ``Let no one entertain any delusion that Pakistan can succeed in wresting Kashmir through jehad and terrorism, what it failed to get through wars.'' At the same time, he was emphatic that ``as far as the dialogue with Pakistan is concerned, India shall continue to be engaged in this process'' - a point repeated in a message to Gen. Musharraf that he ``looked forward to continuing the dialogue process.''

Gen. Musharraf took credit in bringing Kashmir out of the closet and making it the focus of world attention. ``We are convinced that without an amicable solution to the thorny and long-standing Kashmir dispute, the two countries cannot progress.'' He added: ``We are not hype-bound in our attitude... we are in favour of further talks with India on the Kashmir dispute and other issues of difference.''

The state of economy engaged the attention of the two heads and they coupled a reference to the present difficulties with a message of hope and confidence. India, Mr. Vajpayee noted, ``is one of the ten fastest growing economies of the world. India has emerged as one of the front-ranking nations in the world in information technology, missile technology and in many other areas.'' At the same time, he conceded that ``certain recent developments have highlighted some of the weakness in our financial and capital markets. This has made people feel worried. We have taken steps to remove these weaknesses and shall take more steps in the future.'' He saw no need to get worried over the current slowdown, which was a temporary and global phenomenon. According to Gen. Musharraf, Pakistan could now look forward to a better future without ``a sword of catastrophic dangling over it....Apparently, we are in the gulf of despair and hopelessness. But something tells me that bold spirit is not dead at all. I am thankful to Allah Almighty for providing me with the opportunity to lead the process of rebuilding Pakistan.'' The renewal of economy, he said, was the main focus of his government.

Apart from terrorist activities in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Vajpayee mentioned the problem in the northeast which is ``a matter of special concern to us''. Gen. Musharraf spoke of his resolve to ``wipe out menace of sectarian and ethnic extremism''. He followed it with a decision to ban two militant sectarian organisations.

There was one subject, which was specific to Pakistan and was mentioned at some length by its President - the road-map for the return of the democratic order.

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