Musharraf's visit adds to atmosphere

No palpable move forward on terrorism and Kashmir, only a big change in atmospherics, contact between commoners made easier.

With the discussion on substantive issues "�Kashmir, terrorism, Siachen, gas pipeline and trade"� finishing today, what is Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf taking back to Pakistan when he leaves India tomorrow?

A good mood, for one. Musharraf looked positively thunderous when he left Indian shores after his engagement at Agra. That was a different time. The "Operation Vijay" was over and India's victory was uncontested. The 9/11 had not happened and Pakistan was the world's favourite whipping boy.

Musharraf's air of confidence during this visit was in sharp contrast to his truculence at Agra. But in addition to a good mood? Little else. In real terms, India yielded little, whether on Kashmir or on terrorism.

The change is that by noting Pakistan's condemnation of the attack on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus, it officially coopted Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said it was India and Pakistan's responsibility together to ensure no such attacks took place. Musharraf agreed. This is a big change from the accusations India used to hurl routinely about the official instigation by Pakistan to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

India's position, before the meeting with Musharraf began, was that cross-border infiltration and abatement to terrorist action from territory held by Pakistan should end. In official and unofficial briefings, the Indian government said Pakistan had to recognise this.

At the Singh-Musharraf meeting, Pakistan asked New Delhi to note that Islamabad did not want to support terrorism and that it had condemned the attack on the bus service. This India has apparently accepted as satisfactory evidence of Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorism in India on the issue of Kashmir.

From the way India is telling it, Singh told Musharraf borders could not be redrawn, only contact between ordinary Indians and Pakistanis made easier. And Musharraf, according to India, is happy with this formulation, so long as Kashmir continues to be recognised and flagged as a dispute. Therefore, there is no palpable move forward on terrorism and Kashmir, only a big change in atmospherics.

The forward movement on force reductions, including from Siachen, the frozen glacier that is of little tactical importance to either country, was small. The two sides only agreed to "expedite the processes of resolving the contentious issues of Siachen and Sir Creek", possibly in the second round of the composite dialogue.

On this too, there was no breakthrough. On Baglihar, India kept to its position that it was ready to have technical discussions though, it added it didn't want to harm Pakistan's interests in the allocation of water.

The Prime Minister sketched a vision of the good India-Pakistan co-operation could do to all south Asia. Musharraf responded "very positively" and shared the Prime Minister's vision in improving the livelihood of the people of both countries, synergising their energies to ensure shared prosperity.

What Musharraf was possibly hoping for, was an assurance that on Kashmir, India would vouchsafe some kind of positive response that he could then satisfy his domestic constituency with. Instead, the warmth and atmospherics have taken the edge off the stridence of Pakistan's arguments. This is the change between the post-Agra 2001 Musharraf and the post-Delhi 2005 Musharraf.