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Summit's backdrop of 'love' to offset past acrimony

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

The Taj Mahal, that eternal symbol of love, was selected as the backdrop for the crucial summit between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and General Pervez Musharraf to offset the bitter acrimony between the two sides in the past, senior government officials said.

Agra as the venue was finalised after Vajpayee's return to the capital from Bombay on Tuesday.

Earlier, the government had been considering Goa, among other places, for the summit. There was also a section in the government that wanted the summit to be held in New Delhi and not make it look like the two leaders were having a holiday.

But a senior government official involved in planning Gen Musharraf's visit said there could not have been a better place to discuss the bitter Kashmir dispute than Agra.

The general, who has designated himself chief executive of Pakistan, will be arriving in New Delhi early on July 14. He will be accorded a ceremonial welcome on arrival.

A spokesman for the external affairs ministry said details of the visit are still being worked out. It is not yet known whether the general will be treated as a head of state or head of government.

Speculation is rife in the capital about the possibility of a one-on-one meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf. In the bustling, overcrowded, dirty city of Agra, with the grand Taj Mahal as the backdrop, the prime minister might be able to work some magic on the villain of Kargil, the government hopes.

Some of the statements made by senior members of the government on Tuesday, however, do not point to a favourable outcome. Vajpayee himself asserted that the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India, a statement that was echoed by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh.

Asked about this, a senior official said this was "just our way" of telling the Pakistanis not to expect too much out of the summit. "They have much more at stake," he added.

The visit to Ajmer Sharif, proposed by the Pakistani side and readily agreed to by India, is being seen as an attempt by the general's team to project a more liberal image for Musharraf, as opposed to his Kargil adventurer image.

"He is in a trap, so he also needs to look at ways of pulling out of the mess. The cut in Pakistan's defence budget is a clear indication of that," said an independent defence analyst.

"The summit could be the beginning of the high road to peace," said a senior official of the external affairs ministry, but it will probably end without any concrete results "except for some CBMs [confidence-building measures]".

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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