PM to meet Musharraf 2 or 3 times

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who are expected to give a new impetus to the peace process, will meet at least two or three times during the latter's three-day visit to India this weekend. They could examine, and even agree to, setting up a "formal group" to look into specific proposals on contentious issues like Kashmir and even the Baglihar dam.
Dr Singh, as part of his open-ended policy on Jammu and Kashmir, has agreed to meet the Hurriyat leaders who have been clamouring for a meeting with him. But when the dates of April 15 and 16 were communicated, the Hurriyat leaders, in a characteristic response, insisted that they could meet the Prime Minister only after April 17. It is not a coincidence that the suggested date is after their meetings with Gen. Musharraf.
The Hurriyat's Maulvi Abbas Ansari told this correspondent from Srinagar that both he and the Mirwaiz were caught in religious rituals and could not fly to New Delhi before April 16. That he was being a little difficult was also apparent from his remarks that the Prime Minister should have consulted them before deciding on the dates. "This proves," he said, "that they do not really want to meet us." Sources here claimed that the dates had been communicated to the Kashmiri leaders earlier. Interestingly, the Hurriyat members have never been known to quibble about dates and times when it comes to meeting leaders from Pakistan here.
The Prime Minister has taken special care to rid the meeting with Gen. Musharraf of preconceptions or preconditions. A third meeting between the two leaders could be in the form of a lunch or dinner hosted by Dr Singh for his guest, although this is yet to be worked out. And such is the air of informality and bonhomie marking Gen. Musharraf's visit after the Agra fiasco that the two leaders could meet for another round of substantive discussions if they felt the need to do so during the visit. Dr Singh, who is learnt to have "done his homework" on the subject, is not particularly perturbed by Gen. Musharraf's overemphasis on Kashmir and will invite him to present his proposals so that these can then be discussed.
Dr Manmohan Singh has already rejected the first proposal by Gen. Musharraf about a seven-region division of Jammu and Kashmir, as according to PMO sources this envisaged a breakup of the state on communal lines. Short of this, Dr Singh is not averse to discussing whatever new offer the Pakistan President might bring with him. Expectations are that the incorrigible general will not queer the pitch between now and his visit, or during his visit, with controversial remarks that could make it difficult for the Prime Minister to give proper attention to his views.
Pakistan's high commissioner to India Aziz Ahmad Khan said that it was an "important visit" and that the meeting between the leaders would give an "impetus" to the peace process. He pointed out that the last meeting between Dr Singh and Gen. Musharraf in New York last year had registered considerable "forward movement" on the resolution of all issues. President Musharraf has said that he was visiting India not just for a cricket match but to take up the issue of Kashmir. The modalities of his proposed visit to Ajmer Sharif are still being worked out with the ministry of external affairs.
The Prime Minister's media adviser, Dr Sanjaya Baru, made it clear that Dr Singh was not at all averse to meeting the Kashmiri leaders. "If they have no preconditions, they can walk right in," he said. Dr Baru was seeking to dispel the notion that Dr Singh was averse to any such meeting, pointing out that he had refused last time only because the Hurriyat leaders had attached the precondition of visiting Pakistan to the request. Hardliner Ali Shah Geelanai will also be meeting Gen. Musharraf, but on his own. The Kashmiri separatists are now all clamouring to be included in the talks, and are arriving here to make it clear that there can be no progress unless they are party to the peace process. Gen. Musharraf has said that there can be no resolution of Kashmir that is not acceptable to the Kashmiris. India has continued to hold the view that the government is representative of all the states and the people of the country.