ON BOARD THE PRIME MINISTER'S SPECIAL FL: Three days before his scheduled dinner with President Pervez Musharraf in New York, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday declared that he continued to "trust" the Pakistani leader and he believed that he could do "business" with the General. "I have not changed my views" (since his last meeting on New York), he said.

Dr. Singh was answering to questions from the media travelling with him on his plane en route to Paris. Asked about his Independence Day's observation that Pakistan's efforts to curb terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir were "half hearted," the Prime Minister noted that Pakistan had taken "some steps" and it was "too early for me to say" [whether promises made have been kept].

Dr. Singh said the agenda for the discussion over dinner with President Musharraf would emanate from the April 12, 2005 joint agreement signed in New Delhi. He noted that the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service was a major breakthrough. "We will see what further can be done," he added. Also, the Prime Minister repeated his earlier formulations that "we cannot change borders but we can work to make borders irrelevant."

On the prospect of an internal ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Singh maintained that infiltration and violence were yet to stop. Asked as to when the next round of dialogue with the all- party Hurriyat conference was likely to take place, the Prime Minister replied that the Hurriyat leaders had been told that they were welcome to come back with "precise" proposals and only then it would be possible to determine at what level the dialogue could proceed.

However, a senior official told The Hindu that the APHC understood that since the Prime Minister could not get involved beyond one additional round of dialogue, the Hurriyat leaders were keen to have the dialogue at a level higher than that of designated interlocutor "N.N. Vohra." Search is on for a "political face" to engage the Hurriyat leaders.

A note of caution

Dr. Singh has cautioned against getting provoked by statements by U.S Parliamentarians against Indian officials. "We should not get waylaid by the statement of individual Congressmen," he remarked in response to questions about American Congressman Tom Lantos's rather tasteless remarks about India's relations with Iran and how this relationship could jeopardise the recent India-U.S. understanding.

(Congressman Tom Lantos, the highest-ranking democrat on the U.S. House International Relations Committee, had described Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh as "dense.")

In a brief interaction with the media delegation travelling with him to France and United States, the Prime Minister sought to downplay Congressmen Lantos's remarks. "Individual Congressman can say what they want. It is a free country. Our relations are with the United States administration. President Bush and I have signed a joint statement and we will follow that," he remarked.

When asked about the India-Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline, the Prime Minister merely noted: "We are seriously short of energy." And all alternatives needed to be looked at.

However, a sense of creeping disquiet was discernible among the Prime Minister's aides over Congressman Lantos's far from diplomatic remarks. Various American officials too have made unhelpful statement in recent days provoking a concern about the fate of the Manmohan-Bush nuclear understanding.

Officials travelling with Dr. Singh made it clear that India was in favour of a constructive approach to the U.S.-Iran differences over Teheran's nuclear ambitions. The Indian officials are at a loss to understand what the American fuss was about India-Iran ties. "The Americans should not be surprised. We have been telling them the same in private what we had said in public," said an official (referring to Mr. Natwar Singh's statements during his recent visit to Iran, which some Americans have found unacceptable).

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