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Daily Times also reported American efforts to salvage the Indo-Pak dialogue process. “Clinton is believed to have talked to S.M. Krishna as well as Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the telephone… Immediately after Clinton’s pep talk,Qureshi reportedly called Krishna… Media reports suggest Qureshi’s call came after he received a rap on his knuckles for his personal attack on Krishna from PM Yousaf Raza Gilani… Clinton… also ‘disapproved’ of the tone and tenor of Qureshi’s language and behaviour…”

An article titled ‘Hillary’s iron fist in a velvet glove’ in Dawn on July 19 stated: “Clinton went about with her usual charm offensive… And where she had cheerful news for Pakistan on new projects,a vivid message running through her activities was that of a clear distrust and divergences over the issues that were close to Islamabad — the civilian nuclear cooperation with China,water disputes with India and Kashmir.” Daily Times made it plain:

“Of course there is a legacy of suspicion that we inherited. It is not going to be eliminated overnight,’ Clinton said…”

Clinton identified the sticking points in Indo-Pak talks,suggests a report in Daily Times on July 19: “Pakistan and India will have to undertake bold steps… to resolve Kashmir… the US supports the negotiation process,and likewise,trade needs to be boosted… India considers anti-terrorism on the top of its agenda and Pakistan puts the Kashmir issue atop the negotiations’ agenda.”

Strictly,Af-Pak trade

The Pakistani papers focused on the exclusion of India from trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan,with Dawn reporting on July 18: “Coinciding with the presence of Hillary Clinton,Pakistan and Afghanistan finalised the new Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA),allowing Afghan trucks to carry export goods to Wagah border for onward destination to India. Pakistan would also be able to take its trucks through Afghanistan to Central Asian Republics but Indian goods would not be allowed to pass through Pakistan’s territory via land route.”

The News added: “The Afghan transport units,on return,shall be permitted to carry goods from Pakistan to Afghanistan under the same expeditious procedures and conditions as Pakistani transport units would carry.”

Explaining India’s exclusion,Pakistan’s commerce secretary told Dawn on July 19: “Pakistan’s trade with India is a bilateral issue. Neither Islamabad had given the most favoured nation status to New Delhi nor did trade with India take place through Wagah,except for some items…”

Killed under the statuette

A brazen act of religious intolerance in Pakistan’s Manchester,Faislabad,featured prominently in the newspapers this week.

Dawn reported on July 19: “Two Christian brothers accused of distributing blasphemous material were gunned down on the premises of the sessions court …” The deceased were produced in court by the local police and were gunned down by assailants in the court premises,in the presence of the police. The News added on July 20 that the SP and DSP were suspended on “account of negligence of duties” and that departmental proceedings were ordered against them.

The incident warranted President Zardari’s attention,Dawn reported on July 22,stating he “asked the Punjab authorities to investigate the murder and a controversy over demolition of a historic Hindu temple in Rawalpindi… President’s media adviser and MNA Farahnaz Ispahani submitted an adjournment motion to the National Assembly’s Secretariat seeking a debate “on the subject of rising persecution of minority communities of Pakistan.”

Kayani the Indispensable

Daily Times reported on July 23: “In a dramatic development,PM Yousaf Raza Gilani announced an extension of three years to army chief General Ashfaq Kayani,who was due to retire on November 29 this year. Gilani praised his ‘remarkable’ role in the war against terrorism and the objectives achieved by the army under his leadership in militancy-hit areas…” Dawn analysed the move: “The extension… is the second one given to a military general by a civilian government… according to defence analysts. The first such extension was given by former president Iskandar Mirza to Gen Ayub Khan.”