New Delhi, May 2
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has played the most important gamble of his more than half a century long political life and the mood in South Block here is that this time Pakistan will find it difficult to do another Agra on Mr Vajpayee.
Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner, Mr Munnawar Bhatti, who is also the Charge d’ Affaires, was invited to the Ministry of External Affairs this evening and handed over a copy of the Prime Minister’s speech made in Parliament. Sources said the talks between Mr Bhatti and MEA Joint Secretary, incharge of Pakistan desk, Mr Arun Singh, were held in a positive atmosphere.
The Indian perception is that when US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage visits Pakistan and India from May 8 to 10, he is going to come here from Pakistan with the specifics of how and where Islamabad is going to turn off its tap of terrorism.
Senior officials of the Vajpayee government believe that after Mr Vajpayee’s emotional and yet bold speech in Parliament and the mood of the international community, Pakistan will find itself in an extremely difficult, if not impossible, position to continue using terrorism as an instrument of its foreign policy.
Sources say Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) like appointment of High Commissioners, resumption of road-rail-air links, people-to-people contacts and economic cooperation, and relaxation of visa regime will unfold in any case in the coming days.
The most important issue, if not a hurdle, in Indo-Pak relations is how Pakistan is going to dismantle its terrorism infrastructure and what specific measures it takes in this regard in the coming days. That is because militancy in Jammu and Kashmir has gone up by almost 50 per cent in the last fortnight and there are reports that Pakistan-aided ultras are finding newer routes of infiltration.
There are classified reports that approximately 110 militant training camps are operating in Occupied Kashmir. Around 1200-1500 trained militants of various outfits are waiting on the Line of Control to infiltrate into J&K and an additional 3000-3500 militants are lodged in various training camps in Occupied Kashmir.
Mr Vajpayee has thrown the gauntlet to Pakistan making it clear that this peace
initiative will be “decisive and last in my lifetime.” The poet-Prime Minister has sought to prepare a conducive climate with his remark: “How long are we going to fight... India and Pakistan must learn to live together. The talks this time will be decisive and last at least in my life.”
It is understood that the USA is very keen on a resolution of the Kashmir issue within a time frame. Though the US Embassy here today denied reports attributing remarks to General Jay Garner alleging that the USA had developed a “Kashmir roadmap”,
knowledgeable circles here believe that Gen Garner had indeed made such remarks, albeit informally. According to the reported statement of Gen Garner, the USA wanted a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem by December, 2004.
