`Moderate’ Vajpayee and I can now talk, anywhere — Musharraf

In an interview to Gulf News on the day Pakistan expressed solidarity with the Kashmiris, Gen Musharraf said “Mr Vajpayee is the only moderate and he is surrounded by hawks, so if we have to move in a substantial way, it can only be done in a dialogue between him and me.”

Striking a conciliatory note by stating that he was “absolutely willing” to invite Vajpayee, he added that “when one initiates such an act, one has to be very careful that the initiative is accepted”.

Asked if he would be just as willing to visit India, if invited, the Pakistani leader said “yes, certainly”.

India has, however, quickly asserted that Gen Musharraf’s “earthquake diplomacy” will not alter its stand on resumption of dialogue with Islamabad. “Our stand remains consistent and unchanged,” a spokesman of the Ministry of External Affairs said while commenting on Greek premier K Simitis’ remarks that “earthquake diplomacy” could prove useful in breaking the logjam between India and Pakistan.

Asked whether Gen Musharraf had invited Vajpayee to visit Pakistan, he said “I am not aware of any such proposal.”

He said the Indian position has been articulated on several occasions by the Prime Minister and Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh. Islamabad should stop its support to cross-border terrorism for creating a conducive atmosphere for resuming the dialogue, the spokesman said.

In the interview, Musharraf referred to the conversation between him and Vajpayee on phone when the Prime Minister thanked him for sending relief supplies for the victims of the earthquake in Gujarat. ”I hope it can lead to further movement towards initiation of a dialogue”.

He chided the media for speculating on “who contacted whom”, asking “why must you enter into peripheral issues? We chose to talk and we did. But there were several (conflicting) reports, including the one on Zee Television, on this particular point. Why after all must you take the trouble to know whether he or I made the call?” he said.

Musharraf said he had not discussed with Vajpayee whether they could meet because India at present was more concerned with the situation arising from the quake. “But the peace process must start and move towards a solution and this is what we have talked. It won’t matter whether he comes here or I go there or we meet somewhere else. On our part, this is open and talks can take place anywhere.”

Asked when the next contact between the two leaders was due, Musharraf said no such thing had been fixed.