'Humiliated' At Agra

Musharraf is of the view that both he and the then Indian Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee had been "humiliated" at the Agra summit in 2001"by someone above" the two of them.

Musharraf says that twice he had decided to cut short his stay in Agraafter the Indians had "backed out" of what had been agreed earlier.However, he had been persuaded by his diplomats not to do so.

According to the General's account of events in Agra, after two prolongedinteractions with Vajpayee, a "balanced" joint declaration acceptableto both of them was drafted. It contained a condemnation of terrorism andrecognition that Kashmir needed to be resolved.

"The signing ceremony was scheduled for the afternoon (of July 17) inthe hotel JP Palace where Prime Minister Vajpayee was staying and where we heldour dialogue. Preparations in the hotel were complete, down to the table and twochairs where we would sit for the signing ceremony. 

Barely an hour later he had been informed by his Foreign Minister AbdulSattar that "the Indians have backed out" as their Cabinet hadrejected the draft.

"There was no Indian Cabinet in Agra and I became very angry, and myimpulse was to leave for Islamabad immediately."

After being cooled down by his diplomats, Musharraf says he allowed them totry for a redraft and cancelled his visit to Ajmer that evening.

"The redrafting took another two to three hours of intense haggling overwords and sentences. But ultimately my team returned, signalling success. Theyshowed me the new draft which I approved." 

(He hadtold his wife that the Agra declaration would hit the headlines the next day).

Yet this too was not to be. Just as I was about to leave for thesigning ceremony I received a message that the Indians had backed out again.This was preposterous. I decided to leave immediately, but my foreign ministernow persuaded me to call on Prime Minister Vajpayee before leaving. I consentedto fulfill this diplomatic protocol, though much against my wishes."

Recalling his meeting with Vajpayee at 11 pm, the General writes:

"I told him bluntly that there seem to be someone above the two of us who had the powerto overrule us. I also said that today both of us had been humiliated. He satthere, speechless. I left abruptly after thanking him in a brisk manner.

Vajpayee (had) failed to grasp the moment and lost his moment inhistory. This sad and ridiculous episode ended our first attempt towardsnormalisation of relations."

Upstaging Vajpayee

Recalling his next face-to-face with Vajpayee at the Kathmandu SAARC Summitin January 2002, the Pakistani leader claims that he "upstaged" thePrime Minister of the largest democracy in the world.

"As I finished my speech and on the spur of the moment, I moved to thefront of the table (behind which all leaders of the region were seated),confronted Prime Minister Vajpayee head-on, and extended my hand for ahandshake. He (Vajpayee) was left with no choice but to stand and accept it."

He says the handshake had a desired effect and Vajpayee decided to visitPakistan for the SAARC Summit in January 2004 where the two leaders had a"happy meeting" and this time agreed on a written joint agreement.

The two leaders decided to move the peace process forward through a compositedialogue, which includes the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir.

"Again, however, it was not to be (as early elections were held in India and the BJPlost). That changed the entire scenario ofthe peace process."

Meeting Manmohan 

Musharraf says that he is still waiting for Manmohan's "outside thebox" solution on Jammu and Kashmir.

The General recalls his first meeting with Singh in New York two years agoand writes that he found the Indian leader to be "a very positive andgenuine person" with a desire to resolve disputes with Pakistan.

Talking about his meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visitto New Delhi in April 2005 to watch an Indo-Pak cricket match, Musharraf says itended in a "very positive joint declaration".

On his next meeting with Singh in New York on September 14, last year,Musharraf recalls:

"The occasion started on a down note, with the Indians very upset at the tenor of my speech to the (UN) General Assembly. I thought they were being unnecessarily sensitive. The dialogue heatedup quite a bit, perhaps because my military gruffness, but our respectiveforeign ministers soon cooled the situation down."

He notes the discussions took place in a "tense atmosphere"and the situation improved after dinner.

"However, .. We did manage to draft a bland joint statement."

Two years down the road Musharraf sings a somewhat different tune, andwrites:

"The initial signs of sincerity and flexibility that I sensed in Manmohan Singh seem to be withering away. I think the Indian establishment -- the bureaucrats, diplomats and intelligence agencies and perhaps even the military -- has gotten the better of him."

He has this advice for Singh:

"I feel if a leader is to break away from hackneyed ideas and frozen positions, he has to be bold. He has to dominate the establishment, rather than letting it dictate to him.

I am still waiting for Manmohan Singh's 'outside the box' solution. In the meanwhile, I have initiated many new ideas. We await responses or any counter ideas to solve the dispute over Kashmir without which I strongly believe permanent peace in the region will remain elusive."

Noting improvement in bilateral relations, Musharraf says:

"I have said repeatedly that the time for conflict management has passed and the time for conflict resolution has come -- and come urgently, because such moments do not occur often or last long."

He writes the two countries were moving on two parallel tracks: one track isconfidence-building measures (CBMs) and the second is conflict resolution.

 "My preference has always been to move along them simultaneously, but the Indians, it seems, want to move quickly on CBMs while only crawling forward on conflict resolution."

J&K: Outside The Box

Talking about the 'outside the box' solution, he says the idea that he hasevolved -- which ought to satisfy Pakistan, India and the Kashmiris -- involvesa "partial stepping back by all".

The idea has four elements, first of which is to identify the geographicregions of Kashmir that need resolution, Musharraf says.

The second element is to demilitarise the identified region or regions and

"curb all militant aspects of the struggle for freedom. This will give comfort to the Kashmiris, who are fed up with the fighting and killing on both sides".

He says the third step should be introduction of self-governance or self-rulein the identified region or regions.

"Let the Kashmiris have the satisfaction of running their own affairs without having an international character and remaining short of independence."

As the fourth and "most important " element of his idea, Musharrafproposes

"joint management mechanism with a membership consisting of Pakistan, Indians and Kashmiris overseeing self-governance and dealing with residual subjects common to all identified regions and those subjects that are beyond the scope of self-governance."

The Pakistan President writes that this idea is "purely personal andwould need refinement. It would also need to be sold to the public by allinvolved parties for acceptance".

PTI