M A I N   N E W S

Focus to be on Kashmir: Pervez
Invitations sent to Hurriyat leaders

Islamabad, July 8
Under pressure from former foreign ministers, retired generals and intellectuals, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said the focus of his talks with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will remain on Kashmir and he will strive to get a commitment from India that it is a disputed territory.

General Musharraf is understood to have given this assurance at a meeting where the participants included five former foreign ministers, including Shahabzada Yakub Khan, six retired service chiefs and think-tanks, the daily Dawn quoting a source, said. There was a consensus at the meeting that without the resolution of the Kashmir issue, no normalisation of relations with India was possible, the source said.

The deliberations with the intellectuals lasted five hours and the discussion remained focused on Kashmir, the source said. However, a passing reference was made to the nuclear issue when a participant presented an eight-point plan for nuclear risk reduction.

An official statement said the intellectuals and think-tanks extended their support and good wishes to the President for his forthcoming visit to India.

General Musharraf told the meeting that while he was proceeding to New Delhi with an open mind, he was firm in his belief about the centrality of the issue of Kashmir. He expressed the confidence that given a similar realisation in India, the summit would help initiate the process leading to the resolution of the issue of Kashmir.

He also said he was prepared to discuss all other issues as well during his meeting with Indian leaders.

Yaqub Khan said he was happy to find consensus amongst all segments of Pakistani society both on the policy being pursued and the approach to be taken in seeking a resolution of the issue of Kashmir.

The meeting was attended among others by former foreign ministers Gohar Ayub Khan, Agha Shahi and Sartaj Aziz.

Meanwhile, despite India’s strong reservations, invitations have been issued to the Hurriyat leaders to meet President Pervez Musharraf at the reception being hosted by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, a report in the state radio here said today.

Announcing details of Mr Musharraf’s itinerary, the radio said the military ruler would be meeting the Hurriyat leaders at the reception.

The confirmation that the invitations had been given comes as India expressed its strong objection a couple of days ago to the Pakistani Foreign Office after it was reported that the Pakistani President wrote a letter to the Hurriyat leaders that he would like to meet them during his visit.

As per details of the programme broadcast by the radio, Mr Musharraf would arrive in New Delhi on July 14 in the morning. After a ceremonial reception at Rastrapati Bhavan he would visit Rajghat followed by meetings with External Affairs and Defence Minister Jaswant Singh, Home Minister L.K. Advani and leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi. PTI

PMO team reviews summit security
Ravi Bhatia
Tribune News Service

Agra, July 8
A team of senior officials from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of External affairs is camping here to give the final touches to the arrangements for the July 15-16 Indo-Pak summit.

Apart from reviewing the security arrangements at the three top hotels of the city, the officials are holding separate meetings with the respective managements of the three hotels to review the special facilities for the dignitaries.

Particular attention is being paid to the arrangements at Amar Vilas Hotel where the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, is scheduled to stay. The Kohinoor suite is being given the final touches. Equal attention is also being paid to the exterior of the recently constructed hotel of the Oberoi group, located just 600 metres from the Taj Mahal. Every room and suite of the hotel has an unrestricted view of the famous Taj Mahal.

A similar last-minute review of facilities was also carried out at Jaypee Palace earmarked for the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

The team also visited Mughal Sheraton, which will house the media centre, and gave a list of specific facilities that will be required there. At least 40 computer terminals, with Internet connections, telephones with STD facilities and fax machines are being installed in the convention centre of the hotel which has a capacity of seating 750 persons in theatre style. At least 500 journalists and media personalities are expected to arrive here to cover the summit. Some of the larger TV networks have already rented out space on the terrace of the hotel to install their transmission facilities. Others have reserved rooms which will serve as control rooms for the visual media.

The Mughal Sheraton management is also erecting a temporary canopy to cover the entire length of the paved track connecting the main hotel with the convention centre to protect the guests from the vagaries of nature — rain and sun. The General Manager of the hotel, Mr Sanjay Kirpal, is personally supervising the arrangements.

The team also visited the Taj Mahal where some repair and restoration work is in progress. Local artisans along with experts are in the process of repairing some of the corner marble pieces which have developed chips over the years. The entire area will come under the virtual curfew from July 13 onwards when the Taj Mahal will be closed to the public till after the visit of the Pakistani President.

Shops and other establishments in the area around the hotels and the Taj Mahal will also be closed during the summit period for security reasons much to the dismay of the traders and transport operators who have licences to operate in the vicinity of the monument. The entire area, including the Taj Mahal and the approach roads, will be sanitised and security personnel deployed as an added precaution.

Bhat reaches Capital to firm up meeting

Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat accompanied by Sheikh Abdul Aziz arrives in Capital on Sunday. — PTI photo

New Delhi, July 8
Hurriyat Conference Chairman Abdul Gani Bhat today flew in here amidst speculations that he was in the capital to firm up the proposed meeting of Hurriyat leaders with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

The Hurriyat Chairman, who will be meeting a cross-section of intellectuals, said after his arrival that he was here to “see the progress in the proposed meetings with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and General Musharraf.”

Mr Bhat, a retired professor and chairman of Muslim Conference, however, did not give any details of his programme in the Capital.

He recently got a fillip to his stand after he received a “brief” letter from General Musharraf in response to his communication sent to Mr Vajpayee and General Musharraf seeking meetings with them.

The Hurriyat Conference on June 22 had formally sought a meeting with Vajpayee and General Musharraf to “translate” the peace process into a “purposeful exercise”. PTI