Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

11 Frontline Pakistan
and dealing and had no experience of diplomacy. However, being
Musharraf’s closest aide, he was considered the best man for this
secret and extremely delicate job. Even the foreign ministry was kept
out of the loop. Facilitated by the USA, this was the first senior official
contact between the two countries for nearly two years. Tariq Aziz
was later appointed secretary of the National Security Council.
In April 2003, the Indian Prime Minister extended a ‘hand of
friendship’ to Pakistan during a public address in Srinagar. Pakistan’s
Prime Minister, Zafarullah Khan Jamali, responded by speaking to
Vajpayee and invited him to visit Islamabad.In yet another highly
symbolic gesture, India announced the resumption of bus links with
Pakistan. The twice-weekly coach service between Delhi and Lahore
had been abruptly suspended 18 months earlier, after Islamic militants
had attacked the Indian Parliament in Delhi. The bus service, which
started in February 1999, had significant symbolic value. Vajpayee had
travelled to Lahore by the inaugural coach for his historic meeting with
Pakistan’s then Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif.
Given their deep-rooted mistrust of each other, the process
remained a slow diplomatic dance, with the two governments circling
one another warily, each making tentative offers. The efforts at that
stage were largely aimed at de-escalation and the restoration of the
situation that existed prior to the military stand-off, rather than any
great leap forward.
Pakistan moved very cautiously, given its traditional suspicion of
its much bigger, and militarily powerful, neighbour. It was reluctant
to open its airspace to Indian planes and remove all trade barriers.
Pakistan feared that lifting the overflight ban could provide India with
an opportunity to establish close trade links with, and consolidate
its influence in, Afghanistan. There were strong apprehensions in
Islamabad that the emerging process could prove to be another false
start if India raised the size of the table, rather than picking up the
thread from previous talks.
Kashmir remained the thorniest issue as the two countries moved
towards a rapprochement. The events of May and June a year before
had indicated how quickly the situation could escalate into a fully
fledged conflagration, with both countries appearing all too willing to
engage in nuclear sabre-rattling. There was no sign of flexibility yet on
the Kashmir issue on either side. While India was eager to demonstrate
that the Kashmir violence was totally Pakistani sponsored, Pakistan
appeared equally adamant to keep up the pressure on Delhi.