Musharraf’s late arrival has Saarc summit put off for a day

Kathmandu, Jan 4: The Saarc summit, under the shadow of the mounting Indo-Pak tension, was on Friday postponed by a day following a three-hour delay in the arrival of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf but speculation over his informal interaction with Prime Minister AB Vajpayee on the sidelines of the meet refused to die down.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Kumartunga in Kathmandu on Friday

Undaunted by New Delhi repeated rejection of Islamabad’s willingness to have a dialogue with Indian leaders, Gen Musharraf, who arrived here through a circuitous route from China, indicated his readiness to talk to Mr Vajpayee. Gen Musharraf appeared not to be unduly bothered about protocol for a dialogue with India when he told the press at the airport “invitation doesn’t matter. Both sides should be willing to talk. If there is willingness on both sides, there can be talks. It can’t be a one-sided affair.”

“I’m meeting all leaders of Saarc countries but a meeting with the Indian Prime Minister is not sure,” he added.

A brief official statement from the Saarc Secretariat said the inauguration of the three-day summit Friday afternoon “has been postponed due to a special reason” but did not give any details about it.

Officials said the summit could not start as scheduled as under the Saarc charter it cannot be held without the presence of all the seven heads of state/government.

The inaugural session will now take place at 1000 hrs Saturday, the day a retreat was scheduled for the summiteers in Nagerkot, 40 km from here, that could have provided an opportunity for Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf to interact away from the media glare. Contrary to an initial official report that the retreat was cancelled, there was still no word from the Saarc Secretariat whether this was on, curtailed or cancelled.

A Nepalese official, who did not want to be identified, said the chances of a retreat were low as choppers could ot land and take off after late afternoon.

Meanwhile, ahead of the summit, a fresh controversy broke out over the detention of a Pakistani embassy staffer on Thursday by Nepalese police on charges of dealing with fake Indian currency. Pakistan reacted sharply alleging it saw New Delhi’s hand behind the incident, a charge denied by the later.

Officials said the opening of the summit could not have waited till Gen Musharraf’s late arrival because that would have meant a delay in King Gyanendra’s banquet for the visiting leaders, which is virtually unthinkable in the officialdom here.

In spurning the Indian offer for overflight facilities to Gen Musharraf in the wake of sanctions from January 1, Gen Musharraf chose to opt for Chinese hospitality. He stayed overnight in Beijing and was said to have been held up this morning in Chengdu in China due to bad weather.

— PTI