Shades of Agra in NY

To make matters worse, Singh and Musharraf did not make any comments on their talks; nor would they take questions. If the Indian establishment had learnt any lessons from the media fiasco at Agra, they have evidently forgotten them in New York. Pakistani officials were available for comments on and off the record, but, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran’s briefing apart, it was impossible to get hold of members of the Indian delegation to comment on the proceedings.

Argumentative Indians

At Agra, it was the broadcast of Musharraf’s interaction with India’s editors that set off an explosive reaction within the Indian establishment and eventually led to the collapse of talks. In New York, Musharraf’s comments on Kashmir in his address to the UN speech yesterday afternoon seemed to have soured the pre-talk mood. With the two leaders having had no chance to sit one-to-one last night when talks started, there was no way of preventing an argumentative discourse. The fatigue and tension was quite visible as key aides from both sides stepped out to join reporters at the press conference.

When they met last time in New York exactly a year ago, Singh and Musharraf had a long conversation on their own and finalised a joint statement that boosted the peace process. This time both had to be satisfied with a piece of paper that had very little to say.

Pak-Israel ‘handshake’

The widely predicted accidental encounter between Musharraf and Israeli PM Ariel Sharon took place yesterday at the opening of the United Nations summit. PM Singh, meanwhile, is maintaining the tradition launched by Rajiv Gandhi nearly two decades of engaging the American Jewish communities during the New York visits. In his meeting with the Jewish leaders this afternoon, Singh sought to reassure them of India’s commitment to expand relations with Israel. While the Indian foreign office closely monitors the Pakistani engagement with Israel, sources add, there is no anxiety in New Delhi.