ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: Pakistan on Tuesday postponed the announcement of its own package of proposals in response to the Indian offer owing to a last-minute call from the highest political level for further improvement in package.
India had announced 12 confidence building measures on Oct 22 aimed at normalization of relations with Pakistan.
On Tuesday morning, official sources informed the media that Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar would unveil the package in the afternoon. However, just an hour before the scheduled briefing, it was conveyed to journalists that it had been deferred.
Foreign office spokesman Masood Khan cited “further internal consultations” as the cause of delay. When Dawn asked him if the postponement signalled that Pakistan was having second thoughts, he reiterated that Islamabad’s response would be “constructive and all-inclusive.”
Sources said the foreign ministry was ready with the package when a section of the establishment recommended that some additional proposals be incorporated to make the package more robust.
Besides, insiders linked the delay in Pakistan’s response also to recent statements by Indian External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Defence Minister George Fernandes that were received with concern by key individuals in the foreign policy-making circles in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
“This is a tactical move on the part of the Indian government. The Pakistan government’s position that India is not willing to talk will be countered by these measures,” Mr Sinha was quoted by Indian press as having stated at a briefing given to the BJP leaders on New Delhi’s recent initiatives.
In the same context, Mr Fernandes was quoted as having said: “What prime minister (Vajpayee) has done is to make one last effort to see that it is taken to its logical end. You have only two options: sit across the table and sort it out or go to the battlefield. The fact of the matter is that ultimately even the prime minister can get tired.”
These statements baffled the foreign ministry as it was engaged in formulating a response to the Indian offer. Pakistan questioned the sincerity of the Indian proposals that were described by media as ‘major initiatives’.
Some in the foreign office wondered whether these statements were deliberately leaked.
Top government officials, however, hinted at an “overall very positive” response by Pakistan to the Indian proposals.
“Pakistan will not reject any Indian proposal, it will accept a set of them, propose discussion on others and make some new interesting ones,” is how a senior official put it.
Indications from the foreign ministry are that the package will now be announced by the foreign secretary either on Wednesday or Thursday.
