PM asks what’s the way out? General says I will get back

And Musharraf, sources said, replied: ‘‘Main soch kar bataoonga.’’ (I will think and get back to you.)

This exchange was the highlight of a 57-minute one-on-one, without any aides, that the two leaders had after which they emerged positive with Singh calling it a ‘‘historic day’’ with the potential to open a ‘‘new chapter in our history.’’

The joint statement, however, was deceptively straight: both sides agreeing to agree. Read out by Musharraf, there was no direct mention of an end to ‘‘terrorism’’ or ‘‘infiltration,’’ words which have for the last many years directed the Indian policy on Pakistan.

That was done, sources said, ‘‘not to cloud the occasion.’’ Instead, an indirect reference to the January 6 statement issued after the Musharraf-Vajpayee meeting in Islamabad, which called for a ‘‘cessation to violence and hostility’’ on Islamabad’s part, had to suffice.

A quid pro quo on a discussion and ‘‘possible options for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Jammu & Kashmir issue,’’ (which Pakistan wants) in exchange for the promotion of confidence-building measures (a reflection of the Indian view) was at the heart of the joint statement.

The confidence in the Indian camp was echoed by the ease with which the Prime Minister met the President for nearly an hour without any aides. The original draft of today’s press statement is also believed to have been given by the Pakistani side, which the Indian delegation is said to have altered only moderately.

Pakistani sources said the statement did not refer to ‘‘human rights violations’’ in Kashmir, nor to the need for UN resolutions in which the Kashmir dispute should be addressed. They said Musharraf had kept his word by not harking back to ‘‘hackneyed positions,’’ as he had promised to do at his press conference yesterday, because it was important ‘‘to look ahead.’’ ‘‘You can talk about terrorism. We can say it is freedom movement. You can say we have terrorist camps in Pakistan. We can say India is violating human rights in Kashmir…But the stating of these hackneyed positions will not lead us anywhere,’’ Musharraf said. But the absence of any concrete manifestations of their historic encounter—except for the Iran-India pipeline project transiting through Pakistan as part of an overall expanding trade and economic relationship— did not prevent the two leaders from otherwise expressing satisfaction. Manmohan Singh pointed out that when he was asked in Delhi on the eve of his journey what expectations he had of his meeting with Musharraf, he had said that it was an ‘‘essay in mutual comprehension.’’ Clearly, the Prime Minister was happy to allow the younger General to hog the limelight, for example by letting him have the privilege to read the joint statement to the assembled press. In turn, the General deferred to the PM, saying he had done ‘‘him the honour’’ of allowing him to first address the press and hoped that this ‘‘augured well for the future of India-Pakistan relations.’’ In fact, the morning began with a heavy dose of nostalgia and sentiment. The General presented the PM with a painting of his primary school in village Gah, now in Pakistan, where Manmohan Singh was born, as well as a school marksheet in which the school-boy had excellent marks in most subjects except mathematics—which, as Musharraf somewhat gleefully pointed out, he had done better at. In turn, the PM reminded him of a couple of Urdu couplets that he had recited to him some months ago when the President had called him to congratulate him on his assumption as prime minister.

Kuchh aise bhi manzar hain/taareekh ki nazron mein/lamhon ne khata ki/sadiyon ne saza paayi, said the PM to the President. (A time comes in the life and affairs of people and nations when historic opportunities present themselves and they must be grasped.)

During his hour-long talks, Singh pointed out that both nations had to create an ‘‘environment in which natural affinities can get more space,’’ sources said. They referred to the cross-LOC CBMs that New Delhi had put forward in travel and tourism, ecology and trade that should be allowed by Pakistan to go forward.