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Manmohan Singh’s peace treaty offer ISLAMABAD: There has been much talk about Indian Premier Manmohan Singh’s offer of a ‘friendship, peace and security treaty’ to Pakistan that he made in his speech at the recent launch of the Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service. Given the occasion, marking passage to a holy shrine, such a peace offering was expected. However, the general view in diplomatic circles here is that it was primarily recycling and not even repackaging of the peace overtures already made or on track. The Indian PM merely recounted various CBMs that have either been agreed to or are in the works. These include the intra-Kashmir contact and making the LoC irrelevant. The Indian premier did not mention the fact that almost all of these CBMs have emanated from the Pakistani side. Dr Singh reiterated the standard Indian position that borders could not be redrawn and that normalisation of relations should be de-linked from a final settlement of the Kashmir issue. So then what was all the excitement about and why did the Indian premier’s latest peace offering hit the headlines and grabbed the attention of the international media. Perhaps one explanation could be that unlike leaders on this side of the border, Prime Minister Singh makes such public pronouncements rarely. Another reason could of course be that people generally have short memories. Also, talking ‘peace’ perhaps makes big news. Meanwhile, retired Pakistani diplomat Niaz A. Naik, who is now active on the Indo-Pakistan backchannel front, is said to have made an interesting observation at a diplomatic function recently. Mr Naik said this was not the first time that India had proposed a friendship treaty with Pakistan. He said divine intervention prevented the signing of such a treaty in 1982. Mr Naik, who was at that time foreign secretary, recalled that after Pakistan proposed a non-aggression pact, India made a counter-proposal of a ‘friendship treaty’. Following this he met his Indian counterpart to work out a draft agreement that incorporated the non-aggression pact. Apparently, then Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi had even made up her mind to invite President Ziaul Haq to India where the two leaders would have signed the landmark treaty at the historical Red Fort. However, the fate of the treaty was sealed before Mrs Gandhi could extend a formal invitation. She was assassinated just a few days after she had floated the idea. Notably the latest ‘verbal’ offer of a friendship treaty by India also comes when the Congress Party is in power and Ms Gandhi’s daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi heads the party. The new offer is also directed at a uniformed Pakistani president, who started the process by proposing a no-war pact while addressing the Millennium Summit at the UN General Assembly on September 6, 2000. However, the then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had outright snubbed it. GENERALS’ LINK: During a recent interaction with Sri Lankan High Commissioner C. S. Weerasooriya, a former commander of his country’s army, it transpired that his association with General Pervez Musharraf dates back to the early 60s. They were students at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul at the same time (1963-64) and appointed army chiefs of their respective countries the same year. Recalling that Gen Musharraf was three courses senior to him, the Sri Lankan high commissioner remembered him as a ‘very serious’ person. More interestingly in October 1999 it was at General Weerasooriya’s invitation that General Musharraf had gone to Colombo to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Sri Lankan Army. Also, he was the man who saw off General Musharraf at Colombo international airport on the fateful day of Oct 12 when General Musharraf’s plane was prevented from landing by the Sharif government, which was overthrown the same day by the general in a coup. Reminiscing about that time, the high commissioner said: “We were quite concerned about the developments in Pakistan and were happy when we came to know that the plane was allowed to land safely.” A few days later he telephoned Gen Musharraf and wished him the best as the country’s chief executive. The Sri Lankan diplomat, who leaves Pakistan next month after a five-and-a-half-year tenure, made some observations one doesn’t normally expect from diplomats. He said that as a person President Musharraf was ‘very sincere’ to the Pakistani nation and had a vision for the country. “At least you have stability for the last seven years which is a rare commodity in Pakistan. You have the economy growing.” Defending Gen Musharraf, the diplomat asserted that he was ‘different’ from the other military rulers of Pakistan. “There is more openness, the media is free and the voice of people is heard” was how he put it. Mr Weerasooriya remained noncommittal on the question of whether Sri Lanka stood by its position of supporting the Indian bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. “It is too early to get into the specifics. However, in principle, we are for expansion and for consensus” was his measured reply.
