I’ll talk to Pak, Bush tells PM

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was supposed to have watched a compelling performance of the Mariinsky ballet while supping a many-cours...

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was supposed to have watched a compelling performance of the Mariinsky ballet while supping a many-course dinner and watching the White Nights in the company of 40-odd world leaders at Peter the Great’s magnificently restored palace just outside St. Petersburg last night.

None of that changed. Except when Russian president Vladimir Putin ushered Vajpayee on to his high table, he found that President George Bush was seated on his left. The perfect opportunity, as perfect as the scene around to speak his mind with the US President, had presented itself to the Prime Minister. And he took it.


Vajpayee with Bush, Putin at St Petersburg banquet

So when Bush congratulated Vajpayee on his peace initiative with Pakistan — the last of the Permanent-Five leaders to do so; Tony Blair, with whom the PM had an especially good meeting, Hu Jintao, Putin and Chirac had already expressed similarly warm sentiments — the Prime Minister told him that a ‘‘successful dialogue (with Pakistan) could not be possible without an end to cross-border terrorism.’’

Authoritative sources on board Air India One said Bush nodded his head. He added that when General Musharraf visited him in June he would be ‘‘talking’’ to him about it.

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The Indian side seems quite satisfied that in his deliberations with all five leaders of the P-5 over the last 36 hours, all of them have been quite appreciative of the PM’s peace offering with Pakistan. Significantly, even Chinese president Hu Jintao, whose country has an ‘‘all-weather relationship’’ with Pakistan, offered his congratulations.

The sources pointed that India would now be carefully looking at evidence of ‘‘clampdown’’ by the Pakistani side of terrorism into India. ‘‘Large attempts continue to be made,’’ the sources said, adding that India would understand if there were only ‘‘one or two attempts still continued, but if there were 10 or 12 or 15 terrorists trying to cross over, that would vindicate that there is no clampdown by Pakistan.’’

Defer Phalcon sale:
Pak to request US

ISLAMABAD: Musharraf is expected to make a last ditch effort to defer the sale of Phalcon radar systems to India by Israel when he meets Bush in Washington later this month.

Pakistan Foreign Secretary Riaz Husain Khokhar, currently on a tour of US, told the Pakistani media in New York that Musharraf would ask Bush to defer the sale of AWACS radars to India on the ground that it would heavily tilt the military balance in favour of India on the conventional front. (PTI)

‘‘India has to be convinced that Pakistan has made the strategic decision to stop cross-border terrorism,’’ the sources said.

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Nevertheless, some slow and steady progress on the ‘‘people’s diplomacy’’ seems to be taking place. A technical team from Pakistan to look into the Delhi-Lahore bus service will soon come to the Indian capital. Meanwhile, New Delhi waits for Islamabad to send confirmation that the civil aviation links between the two countries also include overflights beside point to point links.

Clearly, there was a reason behind the deliberate seating plan put in place by the Russians. By accepting only two bilaterals during the Tercentenary celebrations — with Bush and PM Vajpayee — Putin was clearly sending the message that making up with America after Iraq was as important as keeping up old ties with ‘‘strategic ally’’ India.