AN obvious question that arises after Dr Manmohan Singh’s sumptuous lunch for President Asif Ali Zardari in New Delhi on Sunday is: why doesn’t the Indian prime minister act on his promise and visit Pakistan? An invitation to visit this country was extended to him by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Mohali last year, and Dr Singh accepted it. Since then, all that we have been hearing is a ritual-istic reiteration of the fond hope. On Sunday, the Indian prime minister was more forthright. Talking to newsmen after the 40-minute one-to-one meeting with Mr Zardari, he said, “I’d be very happy to visit Pakistan at a mutually convenient date”. The “next lunch”, as the Indian media has put it, could be in Islamabad. Evidently, finding a mutually acceptable date is not the problem; the problem is the two governments’ dismal failure to create a propitious atmosphere for talks.

Dr Singh is projected in his country as a man of peace, and there is nothing to suggest that the feeling in this country is different. But his troubles are immense and not confined to opposition from the hawks. Mumbai is something no Indian leader can afford to skirt around. Yet no breakthrough seems in sight, because Indian leaders and media feel, with justification, that Islamabad is not doing enough to bring those accused of being involved in the November 2008 carnage to justice. The Hafiz Saeed issue did crop up — with the Indian position boosted by America’s repetition of the head money offer. The fact that the Jamaatud Dawa leader has not been reined in by Pakistan is difficult to accept for India that says it has incriminating evidence against him.

Even though the larger issue of cross-border terrorism remains a sticking point, it would be wrong to think that Mumbai has become a core issue and is blocking progress. If this were so, the two foreign secretaries would not have broken the good news in February last year that the two governments had decided to revive a three-tiered ‘road map’ to normalisation. Yet, despite several meetings subsequently between the two prime ministers, no worthwhile progress has been achieved even on less contentious issues such as Siachen, Sir Creek and visa liberalisation. Observers would, thus, be sceptical of the Indian foreign secretary’s remark on Sunday that the two leaders had decided “to move forward step by step”. Although greater movement is needed on a number of issues facing India and Pakistan, a visit by Dr Singh to Pakistan could prove to be the much-needed catalyst for progress.