Will the hug be tighter now?

By K. K. Katyal

NEW DELHI, JUNE 18. There are many protocol formalities for next month's India-Pakistan summit that are being addressed by the functionaries concerned of the two sides, but some niceties and nuances and subtle points of behaviour will have to be left to the judgment of the top leaders themselves - the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and Pakistan's Chief Executive, General Pervez Musharraf. The most important - should they greet each other with a hug, if so, how tight, or with a handshake, if so, how brisk? Or a blend of the two - more of this or more of that?

Unnecessary quibbling, you may say. Wrong. It counts a lot in Pakistan - the way they conduct themselves, especially during the first encounter. The details of the facial expression - smiling or stern? - the gestures, in short, the totality of the conduct, will be interpreted, analysed for political and diplomatic meanings. The two summiteers will be keeping in mind their respective domestic constituencies and their reactions.

At Lahore in February 1999, Mr. Vajpayee, on alighting from what was, perhaps, the most celebrated bus, was received by his counterpart, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, at Wagah on that historic occasion, as it appeared then. Standing a couple of feet away, I vividly remember having noted Mr. Sharif's conduct - a brisk handshake, a quick hug, but stopping short of a tight embrace. Gen. Musharraf, then Chief of Army Staff, and the two other service chiefs did not want to salute the visiting dignitary there - they chose the exclusive precincts of the Punjab Governor's house in Lahore later for the formal reception. The fundamentalists in Pakistan were furious over the Vajpayee visit - they said so through demonstrations and protest rallies. A day after his return to New Delhi, Jamat-e-Islami mujahids washed the ground level of Minar-e-Pakistan with milk. The reason: the Indian Prime Minister had visited the place.

In Pakistan, the personal behaviour of their leaders with the Indians, at times, becomes a major subject of political discussion. There was that episode in 1996 when a NAM ministerial meeting in New Delhi brought Pakistan's Foreign Minister of the day, Mr. Gauhar Ayub. On hand to receive him was Mr. I. K. Gujral, then External Affairs Minister, with an exuberant flourish - a triple hug, brisk handshake, and what not. This angered the jehadis in Pakistan. They took strong exception to ``japha diplomacy'' (the diplomacy of embrace) at a time when the Indian security forces were ``killing Kashmiri freedom fighters.''

During the Kargil conflict, when Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, came here for talks, his counterpart, Mr. Jaswant Singh, greeted him in a manner that did not involve a handshake. Most of the time Mr. Singh held his hands clasped behind his back. That was the time when Indians felt strongly about Pakistan's betrayal - in preparing for Kargil when the Lahore process was on.

It used to be a different story with General Zia-ul- Haq, the military dictator in the 1980s. Crisis or otherwise, he was effusive when it came to greeting Indians. He could give a lesson or two to the most accomplished PR experts anywhere in the world. A personal experience. During one of my visits to Pakistan, there was an opportunity for an interview with Gen. Zia at his official residence in Rawalpindi. The question-answer session over, he came out in the verandah to see me off. I took leave. As my car was about to leave through the outer gate, I happened to look back - he was still waving.

Of Gen. Musharraf again. In his meetings with Indian journalists on various occasions (after the military takeover) he sought to clarify that his absence at Wagah (at the time of the bus journey) was not a disrespect to Mr. Vajpayee. He did not want the service chiefs to be around in a political crowd. He would be too glad to shake hands with him, to salute him - ``he is elder and he is leader of India''.

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