NEW DELHI, April 29: After a widely applauded ice-breaking chat on the telephone between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan, New Delhi appeared to pause for breath on Tuesday amid strong speculation that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee could attend the SAARC summit in Islamabad later this year.

While Mr Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party, with an eye on its hardline constituency, said that elimination of “cross-border terrorism” remained a major precondition for talks, sources privy to Vajpayee’s Monday conversation with Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said a visit in the coming months was not “an outlandish possibility”.

The Indian prime minister told a BJP parliamentary party meeting that he is not “rushing off to Pakistan just yet”, but is ready for smaller steps in taking the bilateral relations forward.

Some reports, quoting BJP officials, said India would like Prime Minister Jamali to visit first. But there were several versions of each report doing the rounds.

“Many believe the two sides are talking with one eye on US Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage’s visit next week,” one news report said.

That view has raised the stakes for Mr Vajpayee in convincing the sceptics even within his own party about the necessity to improve relations with Pakistan.

“There can be no talks unless there is an end to cross-border terrorism,” declared BJP spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra in what is regarded as a public posture to Mr Jamali’s otherwise well received initiative.

On the one hand NDTV channel, formerly vending news to Star News, quoted government sources as saying they would like to see some more concrete steps from Pakistan before any possible resumption of even official level talks such as: resuming trade ties like the South Asian Free Trade Agreement agreed to at Kathmandu; restoring direct air links which Pakistan; and reappointing high commissioners.

But all that would first require upgrading diplomatic missions which now stand at less than 50 people on both sides.

On the other hand, The Hindu newspaper, regarded as close to the prime minister’s office, said: “A visit to Pakistan by Mr Vajpayee in the next few months is no longer an outlandish proposition.”

It said if Pakistan agrees to end its opposition to normal trade relations with India, “Mr Vajpayee could soon be packing his bags to travel to Islamabad”.

The Hindu said that in response to Mr Jamali’s invitation, Mr Vajpayee is believed to have reminded him of the agreement among South Asian leaders in January last year to conclude a South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA) before the end of the year.

“India has been signalling in recent months that Mr Vajpayee is willing to travel to Pakistan to attend a postponed SAARC summit if there are concrete economic agreements that the leaders could sign,” The Hindu said.

“Pakistani sources said Mr jamali’s decision to call up Mr Vajpayee tonight constitutes an adequate response to the prime minister’s peace initiative last week. Mr Jamali is also believed to have affirmed Pakistani opposition to terrorism,” the newspaper said.

It said the Indian side, however, is likely to insist on seeing these words translated into deeds on the ground.

“Last summer, the Anglo-American pressure produced strong verbal commitments from Pakistan to end terrorism and helped defuse the military tensions between the two countries,” it said.

“Clearly there is more diplomatic activity in store between India, Pakistan and the United States as the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, arrives in the region early next month and the political mood on Indo-Pak relations gets upbeat,” the Hindu said.