Vajpayee-Musharraf Joint Press Conference Unlikely

A joint press conference by Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been all but ruled out.

Musharraf had conveyed to Indian authorities that he would, separately, like to address members of the Indian press. This too, has been politely rejected with the suggestion that he might like to address the press in Islamabad rather than in India.

However, Musharraf will have a meeting with intellectuals in Delhi ahead of the summit meeting and will host editors of important newspapers at breakfast on Sunday morning at Agra.

It is now confirmed that he will be bringing with him a small delegation (including foreign minister Abdul Sattar, foreign secretary Inamul Haq and some officials).

Therefore, the chances of any meaningful discussion on anything other than Kashmir seems unlikely. Musharraf will have a chance of interacting with the Indian press at the tea party organised by Pakistan High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi.

But the government of India is clear that he has everything to gain by way of propaganda in interactions with the Indian press. Therefore, avenues allowing him access to Indian TV and newspapers will be kept to a minimum.

A joint declaration by the leaders also seems unlikely. The summit will close with an announcement that the two leaders will meet again later this year at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Meanwhile, Pakistan rebuffed India's unilateral gesture of offering to send the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) for talks to his counterpart in Islamabad.

When the Indian foreign office called Qazi to inform him of India's decision, he told the Indian side that it would not be suitable for the DGMO to visit Pakistan till after the summit.

All these events are creating the feeling that unilateralism by India is not working. With India trying to create the atmosphere where discussion can encompass several issues including Kashmir, and Pakistan's inflexibility in discussing only Kashmir and nothing else, it appears that the summit meeting will be star-crossed.