Warming up for summit: Both PMs say hello, see you soon

Meanwhile, a three-member Track Two delegation from the US, comprising senior ex-diplomats Frank Wisner, Nicholas Platt and Dennis Kux arrived from Afghanistan and Pakistan over the weekend to discuss a ‘‘more active US approach’’ that could possibly help both New Delhi and Islamabad initiate a bilateral process and maintain a behind-the-scenes ‘‘facilitation’’ through ideas, messages and explanations. Mere hours before Jamali had spoken to PM Vajpayee, the American delegation had called on Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra this afternoon. Tomorrow they will be meeting key members of the Hurriyat delegation, while the day after they will travel to Jammu to meet chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and other members of his government as well as Kashmir governor S K Sinha. The stage-setting call by Jamali saw both Prime Ministers congratulating each other over the positive developments that had taken place in recent weeks that began with the Id ceasefire on November 26. The ceasefire, the two PMs noted, also continued to hold along the LoC and Siachen. ‘‘It is important that these positive trends be sustained,’’ they said. Vajpayee recalled that during his last conversation with Jamali in April, after his peace initiative in Srinagar, both had discussed the importance of people-to-people contact and economic cooepration. Vajpayee said he hoped that the SAARC summit in Islamabad would focus on ‘‘progress on all aspects of regional economic cooperation.’’ Significantly, the Prime Minister did not once mention the need for Islamabad to stop cross-border terrorism, a mantra that had tended to obscure and distort any communication with the Pakistani side, analysts said.

Official sources, stressed, however that the Indian side would not convert the SAARC summit into a bilateral one between India and Pakistan, but would accommodate the sensitivities of all other countries in the region and keep the ‘‘regional character’’ of the summit.

Under the circumstances, a SAFTA framework treaty as well as more tariff lines under a preferential trading arrangement will be readied over the next few weeks even before all parties meet in Islamabad for the January 4-6 summit, the sources said.