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'Vajpayee should be applauded', Sattar says

We are the architects of stars, but yesterday (Saturday July 14), at a tea party hosted by the Pakistan High Commissioner, what I saw was extra-ordinary.

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf was truly a superstar, as shown by the way the crowd went berserk at his arrival. The kind of response he evoked from the media and from the guests is something I have not seen before.

I know High Commissioner Jehangir Ashraf Qazi quite well, we are family friends. So at his invitation, I was delighted to go to the tea party.

I believe there is nothing wrong in his having invited the Hurriyat leaders -- I feel you can't open your door to a person and then ask him to do things your way.

I have watched him since the day he took over last October, and I have liked what I have seen.

I felt that here is a man who is not going to lie. On TV, he was saying things as they are. I feel his image of Kargil, and his footage where he plays with his pistol, are deifying images. The man who came across in person was different, though.

The man is in control. In the meet the press program on PTV, he was ready to expose himself to tough questions. His body language clearly indicated that his answers were not stage-managed. I felt then, that he was a man of substance.

During the tea party I got to talk to him, and to his Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar.

When I was introduced by Qazi, General Musharraf said, "Aadab", and added that he had seen me on TV two days ago. For my part, I thanked him for accepting the invitation for talks extended by Vajpayee.

At that point, Abdul Sattar told me, "You should thank your prime minister. It is all because of him. It is he who initiated the meeting, and credit goes to him. Vajpayee should be applauded."

I told the General that he was getting the kind of responses reserved for superstars, and he replied, "Its very kind of you to say this."

I saw in him a longing to become a man of peace. He comes across as a man with a dream -- having made his name as a general, he now wants to make a name as a man of peace.

He is highly communicative, he talks with his eyes, his smiles, his expressions. I have long believed that just like the Indians, the Pakistanis also want peace, and that feeling was confirmed by my meeting with the Pakistan president.

As told to Sheela Bhatt

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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