The Hindu : Confidence-building at home

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 07, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - News Analysis

Confidence-building at home

By Harish Khare

New Delhi June 6. The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, may or may not have notched up any breakthrough at the Almaty Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building, but on the very first day after returning, he instituted confidence-building measures within his own Government.

It can be said that the first serious effort was made today to forge a consensus within the Government, before the Prime Minister can inspire a consensus within the National Democratic Alliance, and, still later with the Opposition.

First, two Cabinet Ministers, Pramod Mahajan and Arun Shourie, who in the last few days have made a mockery of the Cabinet's principle of collective responsibility, made a joint appearance before the Home Minister. Then, for the benefit of the television cameras, the two Cabinet colleagues smiled. A successful case of confidence-building.

Then, in the afternoon the Prime Minister himself offered an olive branch to his Home Minister, travelling to L.K. Advani's new home, a much-fortified residence, becoming of a man who is reportedly under threat from all the terrorist groups around the world.

The news that the Prime Minister was going to be travelling to Mr. Advani's residence was leaked out early in the morning.

In a town that watches closely the symbols and trappings of power, the information was received as yet another confirmation of Mr. Advani's clout; he is certainly a man who can make or mar the Prime Minister's effort to work out a detente with Pakistan.

Only yesterday Mr. Advani had proven his capacity to talk at variance with the Prime Minister. Even when Mr. Vajpayee was talking of ``joint patrolling'' with Pakistan, Mr. Advani was setting his own standards of his satisfaction over ``cross-border terrorism''. Mr. Advani insisted that only some action on that ``list of 20'' would prove Islamabad's bona fides.

Perhaps, it is dawning on Mr. Vajpayee that before he can arrive at any understanding with Gen. Pervez Mushraaf, he must make his peace with his Home Minister.

However, it is not known whether Mr. Vajpayee is thinking of instituting similar confidence- building measures with the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, and whether the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, would be asked to talk to his junior colleague to impress upon him the usefulness of measured words, if not the virtues of discretion.

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