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KATHMANDU DIARY
Bitterness was all too evident at summit
T. R. Ramachandran
Tribune News Service

Kathmandu, January 5
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee extended all civility in the first instance when Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf felt he had stolen a march over India once again after finishing his verse and walked up to shake hands. A smiling Mr Vajpayee got up from his chair and shook hands. But it was a different story after the inauguration of the SAARC summit. Going through his paces, Mr Vajpayee shook hands with the other five SAARC Heads of State and Government and just walked past General Musharraf even without glancing at him. The message was unmistakable that India had shown enough patience and accommodation to Pakistan for five decades and that the line had to be drawn somewhere. The ball is now in Pakistan’s court to pick up the threads of friendship and resume the composite dialogue with India. However, the bitterness was all too evident and India was determined to ensure that Pakistan did not hijack the SAARC summit and arraign all the spotlight to itself for all the dubious reasons. A pall of gloom had set among Pakistani mediapersons who described Mr Vajpayee’s response to General Musharraf’s offer of “genuine friendship” as a “rebuff.” When this correspondent had gone to the Pakistan media centre to pick up a copy of General Musharraf’s speech, a downcast and dejected official said, “You will have to pay a nominal charge at the reception for photocopying it as we have left a copy there.” And that’s what some Indian scribes found to their horror with the camaraderie of the last two days thrown out of the window.

Khaleda talks of knee pain

Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, whose late husband was one of the founding fathers of the SAARC grouping, has a serious arthritis problem and asked Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee at the bilateral yesterday if it was advisable for her to go for a knee replacement surgery. She asked Mr Vajpayee if he was able to walk properly now that he has got both his knees replaced. Mr Vajpayee explained to her that the pain in his legs had reduced considerably and that he was able to move about freely now. He now had to exercise daily and follow some do’s and don’ts prescribed by the surgeon. It was not immediately known if Mr Vajpayee had suggested that Ms Zia consult his New York-based orthopaedic surgeon Ranawat. Ms Zia was limping and found some difficulty in negotiating the steps while climbing on to the stage at the King Birendra International Convention Centre.

Chandrika late

Sri Lankan President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, known for being excruciatingly late for appointments, did not let her Nepalese hosts down. Though it was emphatically stated by Nepalese officials that the postponed inauguration of the SAARC summit will begin at 10 am sharp, it actually got under way 45 minutes late. The announcement at King Birendra International Centre said that the “programme will start shortly as Her Excellency, the Honourable President of Sri Lanka has been delayed in arriving at the venue.

The programme will begin shortly.” Mrs Kumaratunga and Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando appear to be competing with each other about the publicity they receive in their Island country. Mrs Kumaratunga has got in tow a private television channel to provide live coverage of her engagements in Kathmandu while Mr Fernando is being shadowed by the official audio-visual media of Rupavahini.

Nipping Pak propaganda

Smitten by the fiasco at the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit in Agra, India did not want to take any chances. The PMO and the External Affairs Ministry ensured that the large media contingent from India did not miss on the happenings by Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee.

These officials were at hand most of the time correcting distortions and nipping in the bud the Pakistan propaganda machinery’s mischiefmongering.

They reaffirmed time and again despite the feeling in certain sections in the media comprising more than 100 scribes that there will be no Indo-Pak bilateral at any level. Surprisingly, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh was also not far behind in having an interface with mediapersons not only from India but also those from Pakistan.

Pakistan offer a ploy: India

Kathmandu, January 5
India today described as a ploy Pakistan’s offer to look at extradition of criminals wanted by New Delhi in the framework of the SAARC Convention of Suppression of Terrorism.

Officials said Pakistan had taken no action to arrest such persons operating from its soil against whom Interpol Red Corner notice had been issued. PTI