The Hindu Business Line : The Great Thaw

AS EXPECTED, THE SAARC summit in Islamabad became a show of India-Pakistan entente. Such concrete steps as the progress on the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement) treaty were overshadowed by the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee's words and deeds. Of course, the significance of his attending the SAARC summit, and meeting both the Pakistani President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and the Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, cannot be brushed aside. This is the first meeting between the leaders of the two countries after the disastrous Agra summit of July 2001. Since then, Indo-Pak relations plumbed the depths, reaching the frosty bottom with the terrorist attack on Parliament. The two countries traded charges, recalled their High Commissioners, and snapped transport links. Soon war clouds were looming over the subcontinent.

Then, out of the blue, in mid-2003, came Mr Vajpayee's statement in Kashmir, offering Pakistan yet again friendship, in a last-ditch attempt to improve ties and live as peaceful neighbours. The Delhi-Lahore bus link was restored, and the first trip brought Baby Noor, whose successful cardiac surgery touched the hearts of people on either side. Suddenly, even the war of words came to a halt, and a new hope dawned with India announcing in quick succession a series of confidence building measures. This included restoration of all transport links and even addition of new ones. Six months ago, who would have imagined the talk of a bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad? At the rate at which the ice is melting, this might become a reality soon.

Much of the credit for the thaw goes to Mr Vajpayee, whose peace overtures to Pakistan have detractors even within the BJP. While the leaders of the two countries are always under external pressure to improve ties, Mr Vajpayee's latest peace initiative has sprung from a self-confidence that has swelled distinctly after the BJP swept the recent Assembly elections in the Hindi heartland. On the economic front, too, there has been good news — a good monsoon, a resurgent India Inc. and FIIs cheering a booming equity market.

Little wonder that Mr Vajpayee has been in full flow, while Gen Musharraf, is on the back-foot. Security considerations after two assassination attempts have virtually made Gen Musharraf a prisoner, and he has found it increasingly more difficult to resist pressures from the US to improve ties with India. On the political front, too, what was considered a "dummy" government in Pakistan is increasingly asserting itself, and the MMA has got an undertaking from him that he will step down as the Army chief by the end of 2007. So, more than the General, it is Mr Vajpayee who can afford to take a bold initiative on Kashmir and gift peace to his people in the Valley. A more purposeful Indo-Pak bilateral meeting is already scheduled for February; and should Mr Vajpayee get another term in office, his peace initiative is bound to get strident. Ironically, not just Indians, even Pakistanis may be looking to him to bring peace.

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