Pak. unimpressed with 'unilateral peace offensive'

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 10. The Pakistan Government is clearly not impressed with the series of confidence-building measures (CBMs) announced by New Delhi in the last few days, and believes that they should follow, not precede, the summit talks at Agra between the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on July 15/16.

In a terse response to the decision of sending the Director- General of Military Operations, Lt. Gen. G. S. Sihota, to discuss a host of issues with his Pakistani counterpart, and the relaxation of visa and travel regime, the Foreign Office here said these and other issues should `flow' from the summit.

The Musharraf Government appears to be annoyed with the announcements and apparently suspects New Delhi's motive behind the `unilateral diplomatic offensive.' A section in the establishment believes that the moves are aimed at inviting international attention rather than building a `positive atmosphere' for the summit.

Islamabad continues to maintain that Kashmir should be the focus at Agra. This was the burden of the interactive session the Pakistan Information Secretary, Mr. Anwar Mahmood, and the chief spokesman of the military, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, had with journalists here today.

``For the last 50 years, Kashmir has been bedevilling relations between the two countries. It needs to be resolved to restore normal ties. What better CBM can there be than to address the key issue of tension,'' asked Maj. Gen. Quereshi.

A polite `no'

A polite but blunt `no' was the response to New Delhi's proposal to send the DGMO. ``We are left wondering whether they are CBMs or ICBMs (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles)'' remarked a Foreign Office official on the manner in which India has gone about the whole issue.

``It is supposed to be confidence-building measures and the Indian Government does not have the courtesy of taking us into confidence on such an important proposal. It is conveyed to us just a few hours before the official is to board the flight to Islamabad. We wonder what exactly was the Indian motive behind the move'' the official said.

Pakistan has taken exception to the fact that India went public with the proposal, by announcing it in a press conference, without sounding those concerned in the military establishment. Even the Pakistan High Commissioner, Mr. Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, was informed of the proposal a day after it was announced.

The mood here is best summed up in today's Foreign Office statement. It said that the Government of Pakistan had seen press reports regarding the unilateral Indian announcement on the relaxation of visa and travel regime between the two countries and on the opening of checkposts along the LoC. These proposals had not been conveyed to Pakistan officially so far.

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