Letter to the Pakistan president

Toronto (press release)

President Musharraf must clearly define the term 'right of self-determination' before seeking this right for the people of Kashmir.The right of self-determination is an unconditional democratic right and equally applies to the people of Azad Kashmir.The government of Pakistan cannot brutally deny that right to the people of Azad Kashmir and advocate the same for the people of Jammu Kashmir. Pakistan has been denying the democratic rights of the people of Azad Kashmir for last fifty years and harboring terrorism in Jammu Kashmir on the name of the same rights. It is time for Pakistan to re-assess it policy and take more human and democratic approach toward the issue. This was stated by Hamid Bashani, the secretary general of the Council of Advocates International.In a letter to president Musahrraf, he said ì the Kashmir issue is not a sectarian or communal issue and cannot be resolved on religious basis. Pakistan further complicates the issue by supporting pro-Pakistan religio-political parties and pressure groups. These parties and groups are acting as umbrella for militant outfits and fundamentalist terrorist organizations. They take dictations from them and act as their political front. The umbrella groups, which claim that they are the sole representatives of the people, and enjoy full support of Pakistan, base their politics in mosques and on fundamentalist militants. They do not represent the people of Kashmir rather they have made them hostage. Pakistan is totally out of touch with reality and perusing a policy, which is leading people of Kashmir toward complete devastation. He noted that fundamentalist warmongers and Islamic expansionist section of ISI and military designed this policy. This policy had to fail because it could not be implemented in a state with a long history of secular values, religious tolerance, and peace. Pakistan has invested more than $ 40 billion dollars during last fifty years for promoting hatred and terrorism in Kashmir. Such a huge amount of money could have made a considerable difference in Pakistan where people are suffering from hunger and extreme poverty. He said the Pakistan government should bring about fundamental changes in the Kashmir policy by making a difference between the policy of enslavement and the policy of liberation. Any movement of liberation in Kashmir has to be strictly secular and democratic otherwise it can only add to the miseries and suffering of the people of Kashmir and cannot be justified and dubbed as a movement of liberation.

index

O what a lovely war!

ALTHOUGH war may not have actually broken out, there is plenty of action in evidence thanks to the rapid fire performances of our special battalions armed to the teeth - quite literally so - as they display their amazing military capabilities through words, words and more words.
The buff-coats who make up these squads may not have been put through the paces at Khadakvasla and Dehra Dun, neither do they sport epaulettes and uniforms, but that does not deter them in the least from being both bark- and battle-ready.
So let's do a quick review of our brave men-out-of-uniform who never hesitate, even for a teeny-tiny moment, to get others to lay down their lives for the country.
The first, in my personal roll of honour, is our very dependable squad of NRIs or Non Resident Incendiaries, trained in the intricate weaponry of cyber-rattling. In rather well-feathered fox-holes some 10,000 km northwest of the Poonch sector (as the Boeing 747 flies), they keep a gimlet eye on the enemy and generally prepare themselves to wage relentless battle through their Compaq Pentium-4 missile delivery systems, especially designed to shoot e-mails across the world with the speed of light.
"National honour demands that we teach the ENEMY a lesson it will never forget. So BOMB the bases," they fire away on their laptops, "If we have to pay the ULTIMATE PRICE and engage in NUCLEAR WARFARE, so be it." Such urgent instructions to countrymen and women left behind in Bharat Mata are inevitably followed by the injunction in bold lettering "LET US NOT BE COWARDS".
Good, soul-stirring stuff, just the thing we need here as we go about our little lives. The only problem though is that when our Non Resident Incendiaries speak of "our country" and "our national honour", one is never quite sure which country they really mean, seeing that most of them have long swapped the Tricolour for the Star Spangled Banner.
Then there is the other courageous lot who brave television lights, and selflessly give of their time and energy, night after night, screaming for the enemy's blood. Although none of them has seen real action, they usually have an excellent war record, never hesitating for a moment to despatch the army to storm enemy lines the moment the cameras roll. I call them the Prime Time Platoon and their secret weapon is a glass of warm saline solution with which to gargle for 60 seconds once the night's exertions are over, in order to keep the old vocal chords fitting fit for the next encounter in the studios.
The Bathetic Battalion come marching next. Don't be fooled by the fact that this lot are mostly poets, or rather versifiers, whose verse seems to get worse and worse by the day so that one is tempted to term them "worseifiers". Yet they can, when the mood takes them and the desire to catch the eye of Poet-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee overwhelms them, stiffen up the sinews, summon up the blood and produce quite a blast. Secretly, they all imagine that they are Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and produce poetry to match.
So one among them says, "Padosi to naag hai" (our neighbour is a snake) and the rest exclaim, "Wah, wah" in appreciation. Which encourages the man to burst out, "Padosi to naag hia, ise chandan na chadao tum..."(our neighbour is a snake, let us not offer him sandal wood). Read such verse aloud on a cold wintry night to the enemy lines with the aid of foghorns, and the sheer velocity of its mediocrity is guaranteed to frighten them into abject surrender.
Which brings us to our elite corps, the Trishul Troops, who simply love a war, any war, even a nuclear one, as long as it wins them Uttar Pradesh - on the presumption perhaps that if Ram doesn't work, Radioactivity might.
You may have noticed something rather curious about this entire lot who measure patriotism by the number of shells despatched across the border. They are either old codgers who have no stake in the future, or young codgers with great lateral mobility who are unlikely to be hit by a loose nuke. But that is precisely what makes them so keen on war.

index

Various dilemmas

Kashmir is to our leaders what Osama was to the Taliban. Rawalpindi has always had a monopoly of sorts over our Kashmir dilemma, our Afghan dilemma and the internal political cell. As a matter of fact, they haven't done much else. Nine-Eleven hijacked their Afghan policy. December 13 brought down the collective weight of Nato, the planet's largest arms cartel, the EU along with the US and squeezed whatever juice was left in the Lashkar and the Jaish. The big question now is if the US can persuade us to change our ways on Kashmir.
Here's a military mind, one that I respect, in action. I am told that America's 'global war on terrorism' must have been planned out in phases. In the initial phases, we have been made out to be a coalition partner but absolutely nothing is ever shared with us. At Mach 2, F-18 Hornets and F-14 Tomcats penetrate our air space at will. Eighteen feet long Tomahawks cruise over us at 550 mph and we are only given an hour's notice. What sort of a partnership is that? Clearly, we are a partner who isn't trusted. They do need us for the first few phases but a partner who hasn't been trusted is not meant to remain a partner for long.
In terms of time, our investment into the Taliban is less than a decade. With little or no revenue base of their own we must have pumped tens of millions of dollars a year (telephones at Taliban ministries had Pakistani area codes). The accumulated billion was hurriedly written off as a consequence of one transatlantic telephonic threat to our 'strategic assets'. Nothing less would have been convincing enough.
Kashmir is different altogether. Our investment is five decades and a good $35 billion (equivalent to our entire external debt). The various lashkars have been a cheap, dispensable and a renewable source. Under the new 'anti-terrorism' paradigm, the lashkars may no longer be available.
In the meanwhile, the economic squeeze is on. The largest mobilization of Pakistani forces in three decades, greater than during the 1971 war, is costing us hundreds of crores a day. The Indian Ocean is littered with war ships and our 'strategic oil reserves' would last for no more than two weeks. The Federal Reserve, America's Central Bank, has literally crippled the New York branches of Habib Bank, National Bank of Pakistan, United Bank and Habib Bank AG Zurich (the last has actually been the largest Hundi operator). All cash transactions have been banned and the banks have been restricted to personal banking, issuing of money orders and certified checks.
Retailers who sell billions of dollars of apparel to Americans-Gap, Eddie Bauer, Aeropastale, Levis Strauss, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, American Eagle and Perry Ellis-use to procure $2 billion worth of Pakistani textiles every year. According to the Pakistan Textile & Apparel Group, there is a "64 percent reduction in orders for clothes that would be made from December through February." According to the Ministry of Commerce, 68,500 have already been laid off and 177 apparel manufacturers have locked up their front gates. This, however, is only the beginning.
Over the immediate future, India will not be allowed to distract the superpower at war in Afghanistan by starting out its own show (the Afghan undertaking is on its last leg). American troops are deployed at three Pakistani air-bases while the Americans control at least one-third of our air-space. In the next phase, however, America will take India on board to tame a particularly problematic ally. Bush still needs Musharraf to take care of al-Qaeda runaways. Delhi, at the same time, is trying to persuade Washington-with ample help from Yunus Qanooni and General Fahim-that al-Qaeda's next home is going to be Pakistan. Bush, for now, seems to have convinced Vajpayee to allow Musharraf time to prove his sincerity.
The US Department of State appears to have isolated two explanations behind the attack on the Indian parliament. The "first is that Musharraf knew about plans for the attack and sanctioned it. The second is that he neither knew of nor sanctioned the attack." Odds are that "he neither knew of nor sanctioned the attack." For General Powell, it means that his general in Islamabad is not in full control. For Washington, the dilemma is that the next general may be even less in control.
At the US Department of Defence the debate is on the next phase of action. Unfortunately, Pakistan's name is coming up more than ever before. That's where an implicit American endorsement to the Indian threat of war comes into play. It's quite convenient for the US to use the Indian lever to pressurize Musharraf to clean up.
For Vajpayee, the attack on the red sandstone parliament in-tandem with the current American mood on terrorism provides an ideal, unprecedented opportunity to try and settle his Kashmir dilemma. For Benazir, the way out for Pakistan is to do with Kashmir what the US and China have done with Taiwan-increase trade, continue investing and put the Taiwan issue on the backburner.
Uncle Sam's present prescription for India is intense pressure but no war. We also want to settle Kashmir. The problem is that our leaders have never allowed a national debate on the word "settle". Our leaders have indebted Pakistan and condemned at least two generations of Pakistani Muslims to illiteracy and malnourishment promising them that Kashmir will be settled to the satisfaction of Pakistan. All the e-mails that I get from India and all the Indian newspapers that I read tell me that the Indian leadership may be prepared to accept the LoC as the permanent international boundary. Could there be a better settlement?
Here's the real dilemma. If we listen to the Americans and agree to resolve Kashmir through non-jihadi means then all that this country needs is one-quarter of the current ISI to manage the internal political cell and a small shalwar-kurta militia for internal security duties (may be not right away but within the current decade). If we don't listen to the 'warriors of terrorism' then we have no idea what they'll make of us in the final phases of their 'war on terrorism'. Can the fear of the unknown make our commanders write their own obituary?

index

Blocking the road to peace

It is unfortunate that road, rail and air links between India and Pakistan have been suspended. The decision will most hurt ordinary people who are in any case worst affected by tensions between our two countries, which divert attention and resources away from the real issues of poverty, hunger and illiteracy, and the rising tide of religious extremism that feeds on this tension.
The suspension particularly impacts the hundreds of thousands of divided families who were linked by the idealistically named Samjhota Express and the Dosti Bus. The heart-wrenching scenes at the train and bus depots on both sides recently are eloquent testimony to their pain. Now, even letters between those who cannot afford telephone and email will not be possible until the links are restored.
The suspension serves the purpose of no one, except war mongers and religious zealots. The burning desire for contact between ordinary Indians and Pakistanis is expressed in their willingness to brave the hazards of making this contact; this was evident even during the Kargil crisis when the air, bus and rail services between the two generally ran packed.
Besides the tensions and the risk of harassment by intelligence sleuths, difficulties include applying for visas in Islamabad or Delhi, where the only two consulates are located. Then there are the inconveniences of the journey itself, harassment by border guards, customs and immigration officials, and mandatory police reporting within twenty-four hours of arrival and departure.
Visas are not granted for the country, but for a maximum of three cities. Other restrictions include a prohibition on Indians and Pakistanis crossing the border by foot (other 'foreigners' are allowed), and on visas for armed forces personnel (serving and retired), or to those who are not visiting relatives.
And this was when we were in a state of 'no-war' - there never has been any genuine peace, since each side has been engaged in a covert war for years, with varying levels of intensity.
But the 'no-war' situation was better than nothing. Restrictions were sometimes lifted, if at times grudgingly, to facilitate people-to-people contacts. 'Track two' diplomacy cannot replace the real thing, but both governments allowed it, because it provided them an escape route from their own implacable positions. The process thus fulfilled an important function. On another level, it contributed to the public discourse, thus creating a platform and a pressure for peace.
A significant part of such alternative meetings has been the discussion about the rise of religious extremism on either side of the border. The 'jihadis' and the 'sangh parivar' are more similar than they'd like to believe, and the people have more to gain from eliminating this mindset than suits either government.
Closing borders only strengthens extremist views. And it serves no purpose in terms of 'countering terrorism'. After all, 'terrorists' don't cross over with valid visas. The present crackdown on their activities in Pakistan is only pushing them underground - and according to the Jaish's own statement, across the line of divide, into the Indian side of Kashmir.
Another important issue discussed in Track Two meetings has been Kashmir, and the need to acknowledge it not just as a territorial dispute but as a matter of the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Indians had begun to realise that they cannot hold on to Kashmir by force, and Pakistanis had begun to realise that they cannot take Kashmir by force. Significantly, those involved in such dialogues include senior armed forces personnel - retired, of course, since during active service army discipline forbids such dissent.
This process was underway right up until airspace was banned for Indian and Pakistani aircraft. A two day workshop on conflict resolution (Dec 22-23) organised by the Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (Department of International Relations, Karachi University) was conducted in collaboration with Brig. (rtd) A.R. Siddiqui's Regional Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Karachi. The Program itself is funded by the Colombo-based Regional Centre for Stragic Studies -- headed by a retired Indian general, Dipankar Banerjee. Participants came away inspired and hopeful of the chances for peace, even though the tension was building up.
But just a few days later, the situation prevented a high level three-member delegation of another people's initiative, the India Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace, from keeping their appointment with Gen. Musharraf. They had visas, but the Indian authorities refused to allow them to cross the Atari-Wagah border on foot as they had planned, for safety reasons.
"By the time we changed our plans to fly, the only flight we could have taken to make our appointment with the President of Pakistan on time was leaving Delhi within the next three hours," writes Admiral (rtd) Ramu Ramdas. Unable to get seats, despite the personal efforts of Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner, the delegation had to postpone their visit. "You can imagine how disappointed and helpless we felt. Both Lt. Gen. Dar and I had flown to Delhi from Mumbai and Pune respectively to keep this date but alas, the 'Ooper Walah' willed otherwise!"
Besides the personal disappointments caused by this meeting, it could have played an important role in conveying the views of India's peace activists to the President of Pakistan, who possibly does not fully appreciate what this movement is up against. If we in Pakistan are up against the 'jihadis', our friends across the border face the hawks of the Sangh Parivar - each feeds on and reflects the other.
Meanwhile, the suspension of links between the two countries has interrupted an exciting development -- cross-border visits by school and college students, privately initiated, with no official or NGO involvement or sanction. Students who made such visits, despite warnings from friends and relatives, returned to their respective countries amazed at the warmth and hospitality they received across the border - stereotypes shattered. "They are people just like us," is a common response.
"We didn't find the Pakistan we were looking for," wrote a Ramjas College history student after visiting Pakistan. The Habib Public School students from Karachi who visited 15 educational institutes in India this past summer had similar experiences. A peace camp was planned for young Indians and Pakistanis in South India this coming summer. Whether this will be able take place is now doubtful.
Peace activists in India have been vocal against the prevailing war hysteria, as have those here in Pakistan. But these voices are barely reflected in the mainstream media. In any case, they alone cannot pull the two countries back from the brink. The governments have to be involved and willing.
New Delhi's knee-jerk response to the attack on its parliament, its plagiarism of Washington's rhetoric and attempts to take full political advantage of the prevailing climate against 'terrorism', should not stop Islamabad from taking the steps it urgently needs to take for Pakistan's own survival. In this, it will be supported by the majority of the people, who are increasingly aware of the cost to the country's own social fabric, of allowing militant religious groups to flourish and develop.
Islamabad's 'Afghan policy' lies ripped apart; that relating to Kashmir needs to be urgently reviewed. Steps in the right direction are being taken - and so they should. We have paid a heavy price for our support, covert and overt, to religiously motivated ideologues, in the form of sectarian violence and killings in our own country. We need to curtail the 'jehadi' groups not under Indian or even US pressure, but for our own sakes.
And our friends in India need to realise that for Pakistan to achieve this, we need support rather to be dragged into a confrontation that will only strengthen the extremists on both sides. Only if we can live in peace can the people of this region emerge from the problems that plague us, and play a positive role in an increasingly interconnected world.
(ends)

index

Borders closed

The suspension serves the purpose of no one, except war mongers and religious zealots. The burning desire for contact between ordinary Indians and Pakistanis is expressed in their willingness to brave the hazards of making this contact; this was evident even during the Kargil crisis when the air, bus and rail services between the two generally ran packed.
It is unfortunate that road, rail and air links between India and Pakistan have been suspended. The decision will most hurt ordinary people who are in any case worst affected by tensions between our two countries, which divert attention and resources away from the real issues of poverty, hunger and illiteracy, and the rising tide of religious extremism that feeds on this tension.
The suspension particularly impacts the hundreds of thousands of divided families who were linked by the idealistically named Samjhota Express and the Dosti Bus. The heart-wrenching scenes at the train and bus depots on both sides recently are eloquent testimony to their pain. Now, even letters between those who cannot afford telephone and email will not be possible until the links are restored.
The suspension serves the purpose of no one, except war mongers and religious zealots. The burning desire for contact between ordinary Indians and Pakistanis is expressed in their willingness to brave the hazards of making this contact; this was evident even during the Kargil crisis when the air, bus and rail services between the two generally ran packed.
Besides the tensions and the risk of harassment by intelligence sleuths, difficulties include applying for visas in Islamabad or Delhi, where the only two consulates are located. Then there are the inconveniences of the journey itself, harassment by border guards, customs and immigration officials, and mandatory police reporting within twenty-four hours of arrival and departure.
Visas are not granted for the country, but for a maximum of three cities. Other restrictions include a prohibition on Indians and Pakistanis crossing the border by foot (other 'foreigners' are allowed), and on visas for armed forces personnel (serving and retired), or to those who are not visiting relatives.
And this was when we were in a state of 'no-war' -- there never has been any genuine peace, since each side has been engaged in a covert war for years, with varying levels of intensity.
But the 'no-war' situation was better than nothing. Restrictions were sometimes lifted, if at times grudgingly, to facilitate people-to-people contacts. 'Track two' diplomacy cannot replace the real thing, but both governments allowed it, because it provided them an escape route from their own implacable positions. The process thus fulfilled an important function. On another level, it contributed to the public discourse, thus creating a platform and a pressure for peace.
A significant part of such alternative meetings has been the discussion about the rise of religious extremism on either side of the border. The 'jehadis' and the 'sangh parivar' are more similar than they'd like to believe, and the people have more to gain from eliminating this mindset than suits either government.
Closing borders only strengthens extremist views. And it serves no purpose in terms of 'countering terrorism'. After all, 'terrorists' don't cross over with valid visas. The present crackdown on their activities in Pakistan is only pushing them underground -- and according to the Jaish's own statement, across the line of divide, into the Indian side of Kashmir.
Another important issue discussed in Track Two meetings has been Kashmir, and the need to acknowledge it not just as a territorial dispute but as a matter of the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. Indians had begun to realise that they cannot hold on to Kashmir by force, and Pakistanis had begun to realise that they cannot take Kashmir by force. Significantly, those involved in such dialogues include senior armed forces personnel -- retired, of course, since during active service army discipline forbids such dissent.
This process was underway right up until airspace was banned for Indian and Pakistani aircraft. A two day workshop on conflict resolution (Dec 22-23) organised by the Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution (Department of International Relations, Karachi University) was conducted in collaboration with Brig. (rtd) A.R. Siddiqui's Regional Institute of Peace and Security Studies, Karachi. The Program itself is funded by the Colombo-based Regional Centre for Strategic Studies -- headed by a retired Indian general, Dipankar Banerjee. Participants came away inspired and hopeful of the chances for peace, even though the tension was building up.
But just a few days later, the situation prevented a high level three-member delegation of another people's initiative, the India Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace, from keeping their appointment with Gen. Musharraf. They had visas, but the Indian authorities refused to allow them to cross the Atari-Wagah border on foot as they had planned, for safety reasons.
"By the time we changed our plans to fly, the only flight we could have taken to make our appointment with the President of Pakistan on time was leaving Delhi within the next three hours," writes Admiral (rtd) Ramu Ramdas. Unable to get seats, despite the personal efforts of Pakistan's Deputy High Commissioner, the delegation had to postpone their visit. "You can imagine how disappointed and helpless we felt. Both Lt. Gen. Dar and I had flown to Delhi from Mumbai and Pune respectively to keep this date but alas, the Ooper Walah willed otherwise!"
Besides the personal disappointments caused by this meeting, it could have played an important role in conveying the views of India's peace activists to the President of Pakistan, who possibly does not fully appreciate what this movement is up against. If we in Pakistan are up against the jehadis, our friends across the border face the hawks of the Sangh Parivar -- each feeds on and reflects the other.
Meanwhile, the suspension of links between the two countries has interrupted an exciting development -- cross-border visits by school and college students, privately initiated, with no official or NGO involvement or sanction. Students who made such visits, despite warnings from friends and relatives, returned to their respective countries amazed at the warmth and hospitality they received across the border -- stereotypes shattered. "They are people just like us," is a common response.
"We didn't find the Pakistan we were looking for," wrote a Ramjas College history student after visiting Pakistan. The Habib Public School students from Karachi who visited 15 educational institutes in India this past summer had similar experiences. A peace camp was planned for young Indians and Pakistanis in South India this coming summer. Whether this will be able take place is now doubtful.
Peace activists in India have been vocal against the prevailing war hysteria, as have those here in Pakistan. But these voices are barely reflected in the mainstream media. In any case, they alone cannot pull the two countries back from the brink. The governments have to be involved and willing.
New Delhi's knee-jerk response to the attack on its parliament, its plagiarism of Washington's rhetoric and attempts to take full political advantage of the prevailing climate against 'terrorism', should not stop Islamabad from taking the steps it urgently needs to take for Pakistan's own survival. In this, it will be supported by the majority of the people, who are increasingly aware of the cost to the country's own social fabric, of allowing militant religious groups to flourish and develop.
Islamabad's 'Afghan policy' lies ripped apart; that relating to Kashmir needs to be urgently reviewed. Steps in the right direction are being taken -- and so they should. We have paid a heavy price for our support, covert and overt, to religiously motivated ideologues, in the form of sectarian violence and killings in our own country. We need to curtail the jehadi groups not under Indian or even US pressure, but for our own sakes.
And our friends in India need to realise that for Pakistan to achieve this, we need support rather to be dragged into a confrontation that will only strengthen the extremists on both sides. Only if we can live in peace can the people of this region emerge from the problems that plague us, and play a positive role in an increasingly interconnected world.

index

Blair backs India's stand on terrorism

BANGALORE: British prime minister Tony Blair on Saturday endorsed India's stand on terrorism by severely condemning the "appalling attacks" on India's Parliament and the Jammu and Kash mir assembly and saying: "One thing is clear. Only politics and not terror can solve issues like this and the starting point of any dialogue must be total and absolute rejection of actions such as the attack on your Parliament."
"There can be no room in any civilised society for organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e- Mohammed," he told a packed audience at the inauguration of the CII and Karnataka gov ernment organised India-Partnership Summit 2002 here.

index

5 Nations steer India, Pak to peace

Kathmandu,: Five Saarc heads of government steered around the shackles of diplomacy to urge both India and Pakistan to restore peace in the region. They were speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the eleventh Saarc summit at the King Birendra Convention Cen tre here on Saturday morning. The message from all was of peace, a break from a divisive past, and of continued dialogue. All leaders spoke of the suffering people of their countries, the need for progress in the areas of poverty alleviation and free trade, but said that this could happen only if peace was allowed to return to the region. All of them condemned terrorism in all its forms but insisted that efforts to settle pending disputes should not be stalled. The most forceful plea came from the outgoing chairperson of Saarc, Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga. In her quiet, unassuming style, Ms Kumaratunga did not mince words in gently reminding the member nations, without naming any, of their responsibilities to the people of the region to maintain peace.

index

PM to PAK: Control Terrorists first

Kathmandu, Jan. 5: India and Pakistan played out the entire gamut of their uneasy relationship at the eleventh Saarc summit. From a handshake by Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, to a reluctant "I accept, but kindly control your terrorists" from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, to a meeting, officially denied by both sides, between foreign ministers Jaswant Singh and Abdul Sattar, there was no let up in the see-saw that has come to charac terise diplomacy between the two countries. Gen. Musharraf once again skirted around diplomatic shackles by using the most public inaugural ceremony of the day, to dramatically extend his "hand of sincere, genuine friendship" to Prime Minister Vajpayee. Announcing his intention he walked across the dais with an outstretched hand that Mr Vajpayee perforce had to shake.

index

HOME Landelijke India Werkgroep

pagina KRUITVAT INDIA-PAKISTAN

Landelijke India Werkgroep - 17 januari 2002