NEW DELHI, April 16: The air in the Indian capital was full of optimism with people from different walks of life expressing a strong desire for peace as President General Pervez Musharraf arrived here on Saturday on a three-day

visit for holding talks with

the Indian leadership on a

host of issues, particularly Kashmir.

A visit to various parts of the historical city, including the Chandni Chowk and Surjani Nagar, and interviews with shoppers and shopkeepers,

taxi drivers and commuters, and the youth and the old

by Dawn correspondent

helped in gathering this impression.

They all favoured an early solution of disputes between India and Pakistan, but were not satisfied with the approach of their leadership that had its own strategy to tackle these issues and failed to resolve the Kashmir issue despite a lapse of 57 years.

A college student said that the differences between the two countries had not allowed the two peoples to prosper. Had successive governments in the two countries spent even half of the funds being spent on their defence budgets the condition of the common man would have been far better than what it is today, he stressed.

Ram Chander, who runs a cloth shop, welcomed the launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service and said more routes should be opened to facilitate travel by members of divided families as well as other people. He was of the view that such a step would help remove mistrust and improve trade relations.

K.K. Katyal, president of the Indian chapter of the South Asia Free Media Association, endorsed the optimism by pointing out that contrary to the Agra summit, which had been held without sufficient groundwork, President Musharraf’s current visit was taking place in the wake of several CBMs and the launch of the Kashmir bus service.