PM, Bush lunch, Gen serves old whine

As General Pervez Musharraf was slamming India in his address to the UN General Assembly today, calling for an end to the ‘‘brutal...

As General Pervez Musharraf was slamming India in his address to the UN General Assembly today, calling for an end to the ‘‘brutal suppression of the Kashmiris’ demand for self-determination and freedom from Indian occupation,’’ US President George Bush was throwing a high-powered lunch for Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.

Top leaders from the White House and the State Department were lined up to meet the PM but both sides failed to deliver on a widely anticipated ‘‘joint statement’’ that was expected to lay down the road map for cooperation in the ‘‘quartet’’ issues of high-technology transfer, civilian nuclear energy, space and missile defence.

Both Iraq and Afghanistan were on the agenda, but Indian officials were tight-lipped about details. They only pointed out that the joint statement would be deferred for a later date but before the visit of US undersecretary for commerce Kenneth Juster in November.

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But back at the UN building, Musharraf had virtually converted his UN address into a single-minded attack on India, then offered to return to dialogue to find a ‘‘just solution’’ to the ‘‘most dangerous dispute in the world.’’

Volunteering a road map to achieve this, the Pakistan president said he invited India to observe a complete ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir and agree to a viable mechanism to monitor this on both sides. The UNMOGIP could be enlarged for this purpose, he said.

Meanwhile, admitting that he still retained control over the continuing violence in Kashmir, he said that Pakistan ‘‘would also be prepared to encourage a general cessation of violence within Kashmir, involving reciprocal obligations and restraints on Indian forces and the Kashmir freedom movement.’’

There was more. To achieve a state of balance in South Asia, Musharraf said, India and Pakistan must institute measures to ensure mutual nuclear restraint and a conventional arms balance.

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He called upon the world to stop supplying sophisticated weaponry to India including advanced offensive aircraft, nuclear submarines and an aircraft carrier.

He stressed that the Security Council could not be expanded to include new members, especially those which ‘‘occupy and suppress other peoples.’’ There was no direct naming of India—but no one missed the subtext.

Back at the opulent Waldorf-Astoria hotel, George Bush had pulled out all the stops to woo Vajpayee and his team. There was national Security Asdvisor Condoleezza Rice, chief of staff Andrew Card, US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte, Secretary of state Colin Powell, Robert Blackwill from the White House, Christina Rocca and Jim Moriarty.

The Indian side consisted of, besides PM Vajpayee, Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra, Foreign minister Yashhwant Sinha, Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal and senior officials from the MEA.