Quake diplomacy may ease Indo-Pakistan tension

Quake diplomacy may ease Indo-Pakistan tension

By M.V. Balaji

NEW DELHI (DPA): It took a devastating earthquake before Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf spoke to each other on the telephone for the first time.

According to officials, the conversation centered mainly on the plight of the Gujarat earthquake victims. Musharraf expressed sympathy for them and Vajpayee thanked him for providing relief materials.

Press reports said Musharraf later praised Vajpayee as a "dove among hawks" and said he hoped he would help resolve differences between the two South Asian countries which have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir. The territory remains the chief bone of contention between the two countries.

The nuclear tests conducted by the two states in May 1998 have further heightened tensions in the south Asian region.

Both of them continue beefing up their arms requirement. India plans to induct into its armed forces the Agni series of intermediate ballistic missiles which could deliver a nuclear warhead over a distance of more than 2,000 kilometres. Both Pakistan and China, with whom India also fought a border war, are within its reach.

The telephone conversation between Vajpayee and Musharraf, the first top-level contact between the two countries since the border conflict between the two countries in the Kargil region of Kashmir in 1999, led to hopes of an "earthquake diplomacy" to ease the tension between the two countries.

Visiting Greek Premier Konstantinos Simitis mooted the idea of earthquake diplomacy and urged both the countries to profit by it. "Earthquake diplomacy is of great use. It can help ease tensions," he said.

But remarks by Musharraf within days of the telephone conversation showed that Kashmir remained an insurmountable obstacle.

The general said while his telephone talk with Vajpayee has broken the ice, the peace process between the two nations will lose its momentum if the Indian government delayed in granting permission to leaders of the Kashmir separatist All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to visit Pakistan for talk with Muslim militants and government leaders.

Addressing a "Kashmir Solidarity Day" meeting at Muzaffarabad in part of Kashmir under Pakistan's control on Monday Musharraf said New Delhi and Islamabad should open official level talks without delay.

The APHC leaders offered to visit Pakistan to capitalize on the ceasefire declared in Indian-administered Kashmir against the Muslim militants at the end of November to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadhan.

But the Indian government has so far not issued them passports and is reportedly piqued over the presence of pro-Pakistani leader Ahmed Ali Shah Geelani in the APHC team for Pakistan.

The ceasefire was extended up to Jan. 26 by Prime Minister Vajpayee and later by a further month despite reported opposition from his senior cabinet colleagues, including Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani and Defense Minister George Fernandes.

Pakistan gave a guarded welcome to the extension but said India should follow it up with other measures, including a three- way dialogue between Islamabad, New Delhi and the Kashmiri separatist leaders to resolve the problem. But Kashmiri separatist insurgents have rejected the ceasefire as a "propaganda ploy".

New Delhi has been insisting it will talk to Pakistan only if Islamabad stops supporting "cross-border terrorism", meaning the infiltration of armed secessionist insurgents into Indian Kashmir.

It is also averse to tripartite dialogue and its negotiations with pro-Pakistan Muslim militant group Hizbul Mujahideen foundered last year over this issue.

But Islamabad denies arming and training the Kashmiri insurgents and says it only provides them with political support.

The Asian Age newspaper reported Thursday that Vajpayee faced strong opposition over talking with Pakistan especially from his External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh who, like him, has a liberal reputation.

Singh who has the backing of Home Minister Advani, a known hardliner, reportedly argued that talks would be meaningless against the background of continuing violence in Kashmir.

Asian Age said the hands of Vajpayee and his security adviser Brajesh Mishra, who wanted to initiate negotiations with Islamabad, were tied due to cabinet opposition.

But opposition groups, including the main opposition Congress Party and the two communist parties, have urged the government not to get struck in the "cross border terrorism groove" and get ready to talk to Pakistan, the paper said.

They pointed out talks between the two countries had been held in the past even when the violence in Kashmir was much higher than what was prevalent now, it said.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Prakash Karat said it was necessary for New Delhi and Islamabad to begin talks as India has rejected any third party intervention in Kashmir.

Observers said the situation required a little more flexibility from both the sides.

Otherwise they would not be able to capitalize on either the ceasefire in Kashmir or the goodwill generated by Pakistan's help and sympathy for the victims of the quake on Jan. 26 which left up to 100,000 people dead.