M A I N   N E W S

Islamabad Diary
Pak capital all decked up
T.R. Ramachandran

Islamabad has been decked up with a fresh coat of paint and buntings eulogising peace and friendship for peace and progress. While there were hoardings everywhere extending a warm welcome to the Heads of State or Government of SAARC countries, the capital looked a city under siege. Semi-automatic weapon-wielding personnel were just about everywhere. There is discernible optimism in the air that the 12 SAARC summit should end on a positive note rather than turning into a India-Pakistan affair. The SAARC emblem is at all vantage points and the government has taken a conscious decision to dismantle the scale models of the Ghauri missile at roundabouts. Some of the buntings adorning the highway from the Islamabad international airport into the city read “Regional peace is necessary for World peace.”

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Pakistani newspapers have led with Gen Pervez Musharraf winning the vote of confidence from a Parliamentary electoral college on Thursday. Interestingly, the Opposition parties in the National Assembly boycotted the proceedings of the vote of confidence and staged a walkout from both Houses. Later, the Opposition leaders vowed to continue a joint struggle for the supremacy of Parliament and restoration of the 1973 Constitution in its original form. At the same time Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali hoped that Gen Musharraf would not use his discretionary powers to dissolve the National Assembly.

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The SAARC media centre is swarming with Indian journalists with two chartered IA aircraft ferrying scribes from Delhi. Such a big contingent of mediapersons of the print and TV have never descended on any SAARC summit in the past. No less than 350 visas have been issued for journalists from India. On the sidelines of the SAARC summit, there is a two-day summit of SAFMA editors being held in Rawalpindi. Those covering the SAARC summit have only been permitted to travel to Islamabad and Lahore.