Pakistan, India officials may meet next month: Political initiative foreseen
By Jawed Naqvi
NEW DELHI, Jan 20: India and Pakistan were being quietly watched by the world on Sunday as both sides pondered the next step following a major diplomatic initiative by US Secretary of State Colin Powell that clearly helped calm their frayed nerves, and there is speculation that their key officials could meet in Munich on February 1.
The Indian Express newspaper reported on Sunday that Indian National Security Adviser and the Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, Brajesh Mishra, could meet Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar between February 1-3 on the margins of an international security conference in Germany.
Pakistani officials in New Delhi said they were not aware of any meeting scheduled or discussed for Munich between the two but pointed out they had met in Kathmandu when Mishra had handed a note to Sattar in the glare of TV cameras at the Saarc summit hall.
The Indian Express seemed surer of its sources, saying: “The Mishra-Sattar encounter, from February 1-3 in Munich, promises to be an interesting continuation of the 90-minute talks between External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Sattar at the Saarc summit in Kathmandu a fortnight ago. The security conference will provide both leaders enough cover to talk in private and perhaps move the relationship beyond the obstacle course it is entangled in.”
The “obstacle” appeared to be lodged in the list of 20 alleged criminals and terrorists the Indian side has handed to Pakistan for action, including possible repatriation of the 14 Indians among them, including Mumbai underworld leader Dawood Ibrahim. Pakistan says it is not aware of Ibrahim’s whereabouts and denies sheltering him in Karachi.
One problem, or obstacle as the Express called it, is that there is no extradition treaty between India and Pakistan, although it nearly got signed in Agra, during the summit meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, according to some reports on Sunday.
Sattar, in fact, seemingly encouraged by Powell’s friendliness, is reported to have told the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley that Pakistan had its own list of criminals who had sought refuge in India, and that New Delhi should take action against them.
While India’s worries over terrorism emanating from Pakistan are far from over it was believed on Sunday to have picked up a potentially acrimonious diplomatic row with Dubai over similar fears.
The Express in a separate story said India was reviewing the ground-handling licence given to Dubai’s government-owned Dnata agency over fears that it employed people loyal to the banned Lashkar-i-Taiba outfit.
It said one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Dnata, which handles ground-handling services in Dubai for more than two dozen international airlines, including Lufthansa, Thai Airways and Air India, is being told by the government that it employs staff who were once members of the Pakistan Air Force, the Lashkar-i-Taiba and the Taliban. And, therefore, its licence is on hold.
“What could be embarrassing for the (Indian) government is the fact that last May, Dnata was issued the licence to operate in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. Around the same time, it got an award from the Union Tourism Ministry and Emirates doubled the number of its flights to India so if Dnata has terrorist links, how was its parent allowed to increase flights into India?”
A month before Ministry’s report, chief of Emirates wrote to Advani saying our “integrity has never been questioned” and India should honour the award, the Express said.
