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Vajpayee likely to invite Musharraf for talks in Delhi

Ramananda Sengupta in New Delhi

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will invite Pakistan's Chief Executive Officer General Parvez Musharraf to New Delhi for talks this week. Today's edition of the Pakistan Observer, quoting highly placed sources, said the invitation from Vajpayee was expected 'in the next few days' and that Musharraf was likely to visit Delhi by the 'third week of January.'

A formal invitation to the Pakistan chief executive will be extended by Indian High Commissioner Vijay Nambiar in Islamabad next week, the newspaper said.

Government sources in New Delhi remained tightlipped, but did not rule out the possibility of the invitation, saying things would be clear only when the prime minister returns from Indonesia on Saturday.

The invitation would indicate a positive turnaround in the government's policy, which has so far been that no talks could take place until there was a distinct drop in Pakistani-sponsored terrorism in the Kashmir valley.

But while the Observer claims that the talks would centre around ways to resolve the Kashmir dispute, Indian Foreign Office sources insisted that this was unlikely.

The Observer report also says: 'Foreign secretaries of the two countries along with senior officials are likely to hold structured talks on all the outstanding issues.'

'Barring the core issue of Kashmir, which will be discussed between the two leaders on one-to-one basis, various ministries are at an advance stage of finalising mutually agreed agenda on all outstanding issues,' it adds.

Sources in Delhi said the Indian government had 'perhaps grudgingly' accepted the Pakistani position -- that while Islamabad had reined in all the militants under its direct control, it was very difficult to withdraw some of the terrorist units already in place in India. These groups were still active in parts of the valley, and were responsible for the spate of militancy that continues in the valley despite the unilateral cease-fire imposed and extended by India.

Sources also hinted at the possible involvement of American businessman Mansoor Ijaz, who has been actively involved in the Kashmir peace process at the reportedly unofficial behest of the US government, in this latest initiative.

Ijaz, who is in Delhi trying to get visas and travel documents for the Hurriyat leaders to go to Pakistan for talks with the militant leaders, was unavailable for comment.

Apart from the 'core issue' of Kashmir, other points of discussion would involve:

• The Siachen standoff, where India maintains strategic positions at extreme high altitude on the glacier. Both sides want a phased withdrawal of troops from the inhospitable terrain, but there are differences over the actual modalities of this withdrawal.

• The possibility of turning the Line of Control into an international border.

• The demarcation of the boundaries of Sir Creek -- a small strip of water along the Rann of Kutch (in India) and Sind (in Pakistan) -- which in turn would help clear some of the maritime boundary disputes between the two nations.

• The Tulbul/ Wullar Barrage: In 1991, Islamabad had agreed to permit the construction of the barrage on the Jhelum for navigation after India agreed to forego 0.3m acre feet of water out of its share under the Indus Water Treaty provision. Differences over the objectives of the project however, led to interruption of work there since 1987.

• Confidence building measures: These basically call for early intimation of military movements and exercises, particular if they happen close to the borders, and a treaty not to attack nuclear installations. India wants to extend this to include economic targets and major population centres, but in return, Pakistan wants India to enter into an agreement which also protects main culture and religious sites against "destruction and vandalism," and the withdrawal or removal of Indian troops stationed close to Pakistani border towns as a goodwill gesture.

MEA officials and others closely involved in the Kashmir peace process, however, seem to have adopted a wait and watch attitude towards this latest development, the result, they say, of Kargil and other instances of Pakistani doublespeak.

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