A nadir over a summit

Yet, given this tendency for contacts between Indian and Pakistani high officials to so rapidly fragment into bitterness, Sinha8217;s caution against rushing into a summit is timely. In an interview to a Pakistani newspaper, the foreign minister clarified that the Indian prime minister8217;s presence at the Saarc meet in January need not be deemed sufficient to schedule an Indo-Pak summit on the sidelines. A serious summit, he said, demands adequate preparation, a peace process calls for patience. This nuanced approach to engaging with Pakistan 8212; cordiality at multilateral fora while putting on hold bilateral rendezvous 8212; is welcome. For far too long engagement between the two countries has swung from frosty snub to warm bear hug and back again to icy impasse. For examples, simply rewind. Each summit 8212; whether it be between Rajiv Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto in Islamabad 1989 or between Vajpayee and Pervez Musharraf in Agra 2001 8212; has been caught in a vicious progression from false optimism to dashed hopes. In hindsight, it has to be said failure was inevitable each time. With little homework by the foreign offices, with no tacit agreement on the agenda or contingency plans in case of a breakdown, they were simply constructed on atmospherics. They appear to have been little more than weekends off for warm exchanges in calendars packed with hostile exchanges.

The Saarc meet should provide Vajpayee and his Pakistani counterpart ample opportunity for unofficial interaction to gauge progress in the current peace initiative. In the meanwhile, there is all the more cause for impatience in putting together the appurtenances of constructive engagement. But first, this unnecessary controversy must be defused.