New Delhi, Mar 5: In a significant development — and one which comes against the run of play — Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf will visit India on Saturday. Coming at a time when ties between the two neighbours have hit a trough, not least because of the LoC flare up, the visit could provide India and Pakistan a much-needed opportunity to stem the decline in relations.
It is learnt that Ashraf approached the Indian government last week through diplomatic channels to facilitate a visit to Ajmer Sharif. While New Delhi has approved his visit to the religious shrine, it's still caught in two minds about engaging Ashraf in a dialogue, even if casual, with his counterpart Manmohan Singh at a time when India has effectively suspended all exchanges in retaliation against the killing of two Indian soldiers and mutilation of their bodies by Pakistan army. It is understood that Singh himself will take a call on whether or not to meet Ashraf.
India has not yet responded to Pakistan's overtures for talks between the two foreign ministers over the LoC incidents.
President Asif Ali Zardari's meeting with Singh last April was prompted by the former's decision to visit Ajmer Sharif. Singh had then met Zardari over lunch. It remains to be seen, though, if Singh — who had caused much heartburn in Islamabad last year by ignoring repeated invites to visit Pakistan — picks up the gauntlet and decides to receive Ashraf in Delhi bang in the middle of the ongoing Parliament session.
Will come with kin
Ashraf's trip — he will be in India with family members, relatives and close friends — is going to test Singh because of its timing. For, it comes at a time when the two countries have stopped all engagements, following the firing and alleged ceasefire violations along the LoC in January leading to the deaths of two Indian and three Pakistani soldiers. There were acrimonious exchanges between the two countries as one Indian soldier was found beheaded. The body of another had been mutilated.
Since then, there has been no government level contact between the two countries. While Pakistan commerce minister Makhdoom Fahim called off a visit to India, New Delhi, too, postponed talks between the water resources ministries in January. Instead, it proposed new dates in March for the talks.
There is a feeling in New Delhi that the situation when Zardari came to India was much more conducive for a one-to-one meeting. While officials were tight-lipped about Ashraf's engagements here, it is learnt that the details were still being worked out. Depending on what sort of response he gets from the government here, Ashraf will decide whether he should land first in Delhi or go directly to Jaipur on Saturday.
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