180 degrees from ‘dispute’ to ‘referendum’

NEW DELHI: When General Pervez Musharraf said things had taken a 180 degree turn since the Agra summit, his body language showed that he meant it.

At a meeting with editors in July 2001, the Pakistani President was curt, his speech abrupt, and stuck rigidly to the Kashmir dispute, his visit coming shortly after the Kargil conflict. But when he met editors on Monday morning in the Capital, Musharraf appeared composed and entirely at ease with the flurry of probing questions about sensitive issues as Palestine and Chechnya.

While Musharraf continued to stick to the Kashmir issue, he stayed away from words like ‘‘dispute’’, instead tapping into the more reassuring sound of ‘‘referendum’’.

Musharraf said he had heard on the grapevine that people were saying, ‘‘Phir se wohi dil laya hai’’, referring to the acrimony during his Agra visit. With a smile, he said: ‘‘This time, I beg to differ.’’ Joint statement ends with a smileMusharraf’s good humour stretched to the most important occasion this time, the declaration of the joint statement on Monday morning.After PM Manmohan Singh read out the statement, the two leaders stepped in front of their lecterns to shake hands for what was expected to be an impromptu open house for questions.However, after the photos were taken, the PM waved at the journalists and made his way out of the conference room.

The journalists asked Musharraf if he had anything to say. He winked, pointed at the PM as if to say: ‘‘He has already said whatever there is to say’’, and followed the PM out of the room with a smile.