INDIA/PAKISTAN: Deepening hostility between nuclear powers India and Pakistan is set to dominate another regional summit, writes Rahul Bedi, in Kathmandu
A south Asian summit in Kathmandu has been delayed until today, dashing all hopes of any informal talks between the leaders of India and Pakistan, which are locked in a military stand-off along their borders.
Officials said a "retreat" of the seven South Asian leaders planned for today at a scenic spot outside Kathmandu had been cancelled because of the changed schedule.
The retreat was one of the few opportunities for the Pakistan President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, to meet privately away from the glare of television cameras to try and reduce tension between the nuclear rivals following last month's attack on the parliament in New Delhi.
Analysts claimed India was responsible for "steam-rolling" hosts Nepal into cancelling the retreat. They said Mr Vajpayee, whose Hindu nationalist party faces crucial elections in eastern Uttar Pradesh state next month, cannot "politically afford" to be seen holding talks with Gen Musharraf after the December 13th attack on parliament.
India holds Pakistani military intelligence responsible for "sponsoring" the two militant groups it blames for the assault on parliament and withdrew its ambassador. The two sides also imposed sanctions on each other by breaking rail, road and air links and halving their embassy staffs.
The South Asian Association Regional Co-operation (SAARC) meeting at Kathmandu was postponed after Gen Musharraf was delayed for around three hours by heavy fog in China and was unable to make the inauguration ceremony scheduled for 2.30 p.m. local time.
Gen Musharraf had stopped over in China, a key military ally, for a day of talks after India banned Pakistani planes from flying over its airspace and arrived in Kathmandu in an Air China aircraft. "I cannot be sure of meeting the Indian prime minister. If there is a willingness on both sides there can be talks," Gen Musharaff said on arrival. Talks cannot be a one-sided affair, he added.
"China will support Pakistan in any eventuality", Maj Gen Rashid Qureshi, Pakistan's military spokesman, said yesterday. The relationship between the two was, he said, "deeper than the seas and higher than the mountains".
India said the atmosphere was not conducive for talks with Pakistan. "We have not abjured dialogue, but by attacking parliament Pakistan crossed the threshold and should indicate through meaningful action that it is sincere in controlling terrorism," Ms Nirupma Rao, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, said.
In a minor climbdown from an earlier intransigent position, the Indian Foreign Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, conceded that Delhi was willing to give Pakistan the time it needed to "dismantle the edifice of terrorism it had supported and constructed ". But he wanted Pakistan to make a "forthright" declaration against terror which indicated that Islamabad was taking positive action against terrorist groups fighting to drive India from the disputed Kashmir province. Pakistan denies Indian allegations that it is fuelling Kashmir's 12-year insurgency, which has claimed over 35,000 lives.
Meanwhile, all seven SAARC leaders attended a banquet hosted hosted by Nepal's King Gyanendra. Besides India and Pakistan, SAARC includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, all of which are incensed that the regional forum is dominated by tension between the nuclear rivals.
Vexatious relations between India and Pakistan have, for years, bedevilled SAARC. It last met in Colombo in 1998 under the shadow of Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests and was cancelled the following year after the military coup in Islamabad.
While SAARC's final charter will focus on terrorism, it will also include ways on exploring ways to eradicate rampant poverty, boost trade and curb the sexual exploitation of women and children.