Who played the spoilsport - Sushma or Musharraf?

By Our Special Correspondent

ISLAMABAD, JULY 19. What led to the `collapse' of the Agra summit? Was it the decision of the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Ms. Sushma Swaraj, to brief a section of the Indian media on the first day proceedings of the dialogue or was it the green signal given by the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to a television channel to go ahead with telecast of his interaction with a group of senior Indian editors?

This is the question that is dominating the columns of the media here for the last three days. The truth may perhaps be never known as both India and Pakistan have a viewpoint on both the events.

As much as the military establishment here, the media is convinced that it was the `one-sided briefing' of Ms. Swaraj that paved the way for the `disastrous end' to the summit. They also seem to be convinced that she was `put up' for the job.

Senior managers of the Musharraf Government concede that the interaction of the Pakistan President with a group of senior Indian editors was meant to be off-the-record meet.

They claim that they had no intention whatsoever to telecast the proceedings though a team of Pakistan Television recorded the whole session. The explanation is that it is a standard practice followed by the Government to record every interaction of the President particularly with the press - be it on or off the record.

``The practice is followed to ensure that President is not quoted either wrongly or out of context at any future time. We record the proceedings and keep them in safe custody to take care of any eventuality,'' a senior Government official said.

It appears the whole `trouble' started when a group of Pakistani journalists heard about Ms. Swaraj's briefing and rushed to the senior officials of the Pakistani delegation accompanying Gen. Musharraf.

``We were confronted with a dilemma in the face of demands from the Pakistani journalists for an explanation as to how they are letting an Indian Minister get away with an impression all subjects under the earth except Kashmir figured on the first day of the summit,'' the official said.

According to him, Gen. Musharraf himself happen to notice Ms. Swaraj's briefing being relayed on one of the television channels. ``He was furious about it and instructions were given to the Pakistan Information Secretary to correct the impression. That is how Mr. Anwar Ahmed went on record contradicting the Minister.''

The next morning when Gen. Musharraf began his session with the Indian editors, it is believed that one of them passed on a chit to a senior official seeking a copy of the recorded version of the proceedings.

``The matter was referred to Gen. Musharraf even as he was in the middle of his meeting and he gave the green signal. There was no discussion as to when the Indian channel concerned intended to use the footage.

``One of the factors that could have perhaps influenced our decision in allowing the Indian channel to telecast the proceedings was the fact that we had decided to carry excerpts of the meet on the PTV and it (PTV) was finding it difficult to uplink to Islamabad. The Indian television channel offered help in uplinking the footage and we readily agreed to part with the tape for its use as well. Gen. Musharraf was not aware that his interaction was beamed across the world even as he was closeted with Mr. Vajpayee,'' the official claimed.

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