NEW DELHI, Dec 30: Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and senior opposition leaders on Sunday agreed to give diplomacy every chance to succeed before taking a long hard look at war as an option to resolve India’s assorted problems with Pakistan, a minister said.

The ray of hope for peace was, however, confronted with a new challenge immediately as the cloud of uncertainty hovered over an as yet on meeting of the seven SAARC heads in Kathmandu on Jan 4, which would effectively bring Vajpayee face to face with President Pervez Musharraf under the glare of television cameras, gadgets that he has been avoiding at meetings even in Delhi.

There was some confusion about the dates of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s visit to New Delhi, giving further credence to the possibility that Vajpayee may either not visit Kathmandu or he may cut short his visit, citing emergency as some other leaders such as Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga have done before.

According to a tentative programme circulating among a section of the foreign press corps, Blair is expected in Delhi either on Jan 3 or 4, but according to some Indian news reports on Jan 5.

The SAARC summit will end on Jan 6, in which case either Vajpayee or Jaswant Singh, expected at the SAARC ministers’ meeting on Jan 3, are unlikely to be able to keep both appointments.

Indian opposition leaders were unanimous that Vajpayee must not close the door to talks with Pakistan and at least one senior leader, Communist Party of India chief A.B. Bardhan, said it should first be probed at the level of the foreign ministers of the two countries.

The Indian Express newspaper, which has taken a stand for talks at whatever level, reported a wide array of opposition opinions on Sunday, none of which advocated war.

It quoted former prime minister I.K. Gujral as saying that India should never say no to a meeting. “It does not mean you are giving in or conceding anyone’s point. Sun leejiye, apni baat suna deejiye (Listen to others and speak out your mind). We should not make it an issue of prestige.”

Gujral said that while the moves made by the government so far were “correct in getting some results”, meeting Musharraf in Kathmandu would be a corollary of that process.

“I am asking the government to change gear, not to change direction. SAARC is an opportunity, we should use it shrewdly.”

“They should certainly meet and talk,” said Congress leader Salman Khursheed, who heads the party’s policy and planning committee. “Their meeting is inevitable and what is inevitable should be done with grace. The US wants us to talk. There is no way out. The question is how you handle the talks.”

“We were talking too soon in terminal terms and politics and conflict in modern times does not have terminal terms,” Khursheed said.

According to Sitaram Yechury, politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), “talks should be held, there is no question of discontinuing them, this has all along been our position. But it was for the government to decide the issues on which talks should be held,” he said.

Gujral said that if the initiative came from the other side, India should respond. Kisi ne haath aage kiya to aap haath jeb mein thorhi dalenge? Koi bachchon ka khel hai kya? (If someone extends a hand of friendship, would you keep your hand in the pocket? Is it a child’s play?) You are governing a country of one billion.”

Parliament member Shabana Azmi also supported the suggestion of talks with Pakistan. “Even if it’s only a PR exercise for Musharraf to project to the international community that Pakistan is a reasonable country why should we not accept the offer? We must not give him a chance to say that while Pakistan is reasonable, India is being unreasonable in its attitude. The dialogue option should never be ruled out. Exercising dialogue does not mean we are surrendering or bending on our knees, it’s just an option that we pick,” Ms Azmi said.

Sunday’s meeting with Vajpayee was attended by Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Home Minister Advani and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. Vajpayee said Defence Minister Jaswant Singh had been kept out of the meeting because the opposition would have objected to his presence.

“The refrain at the meeting of political parties was that ‘maximum scope’ should be given to the use of diplomatic measures against Islamabad, which has not given enough evidence so far to prove that it was really acting against terrorist groups,” Star News reported.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan, who briefed reporters, called the meeting very successful and once again reiterated that the government’s sole focus at this point is on diplomacy.

“Today’s meeting was very constructive. They almost appreciated each and every step taken by the government and approved strategy for the future. Nobody from the government’s side suggested anything like military aggression. What government is trying today is diplomacy and nothing but diplomacy,” said Mahajan.

TOUGH WORDS: On Saturday, Vajpayee had some tough words for Pakistan, accusing it of joining the international coalition against terrorism only to get Kashmir. He also asked the international community to show the same resolve to fight “Pakistani-sponsored terrorism” as it did against the Taliban.