Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak
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Kashmir<br />
On the very first evening of the summit, Musharraf gave a speech<br />
which seemed to push all the right buttons: ‘<strong>The</strong> legacy of the past<br />
years was not a happy one … blood has been spilt, precious lives<br />
have been lost.we must not allow the past to dictate the future,’ he<br />
declared in his speech at the Indian President’s dinner. 6 Musharraf’s<br />
call for peace changed the atmosphere and set a positive tone for the<br />
summit. <strong>The</strong> General seemed to have established a good rapport with<br />
the ageing Indian Prime Minister. Unlike any other summit, the Agra<br />
summit had no prior agreed-upon agenda and most of the meetings<br />
were one-on-one.<br />
Inevitably though, the summit ended in a stalemate on 16 July<br />
2001, with the two leaders unable to agree on the wording of the<br />
declaration. 7 <strong>The</strong> deadlock did not come as a surprise. <strong>The</strong> final<br />
breakdown came when India refused to accept the centrality of the<br />
Kashmir issue and insisted on including the question of ‘cross-border<br />
terrorism’ in the declaration. <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong> also showed its reservations over<br />
the reference to the Agra process as a continuation of the Simla and<br />
Lahore declarations. 8 Both sides blamed each other of intransigence,<br />
but the reality was that neither leader was prepared to resist pressure<br />
from their respective hardliners.<br />
Musharraf’s position certainly didn’t leave much room for<br />
compromise in negotiations. Never before had a <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i leader<br />
brought Kashmir to the centre of the summit table as forcefully as he<br />
did. His blunt talk with the Indian media editors on 16 July, which was<br />
televised by several networks, was also used by the Indian hardliners<br />
to obstruct an accord. <strong>The</strong> mood on the Indian side turned visibly<br />
bitter when Musharraf declared there should not be any illusion that<br />
the main issue confronting the two countries was Kashmir. ‘I will keep<br />
saying it whether anyone likes it or not,’ he said.<br />
All was not lost, however. 9 Musharraf and Vajpayee bade each<br />
other goodbye with a promise to meet again and pick up the threads<br />
from there. Despite the acrimony and bitterness that marked its<br />
closure, the Agra summit had broken the ice and revived the process<br />
of dialogue which had frozen after the Kargil conflict in the summer<br />
of 1999. <strong>The</strong> Indian Prime Minister accepted <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>’s invitation<br />
for a return visit to <strong>Islam</strong>abad. It was also agreed to hold summit<br />
meetings between the Indian and <strong><strong>Pak</strong>istan</strong>i leaders once a year,<br />
and biannual talks at the foreign ministerial level to discuss issues<br />
relating to peace, security, confidence-building measures, Kashmir,<br />
narcotics and terrorism.<br />
10