Sharif's emissary meets Vajpayee
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, June 28 — Tough public postures adopted by the leadership in India and Pakistan over the Kargil developments notwithstanding, the Prime Ministers of the two countries have been having regular exchanges over the telephone on the crisis.

The secret visit of a former Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Niaz A Naik, who arrived by a special plane to New Delhi yesterday and returned to Islamabad today, was in continuation of the telephonic discussions Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Mr Nawaz Sharif have been having over the past few weeks on the Kargil situation.

The Pakistan Government, however, maintained that Mr Naik was on a "private visit" and it had nothing to do with Islamabad’s foreign policy.

"This was Naik’s private visit and it has nothing to do with Pakistan’s foreign policy," the acting spokesman for the Pakistan Foreign Ministry, Mr Zameer Akram, was quoted as saying in Islamabad.

While the spokesman in Islamabad maintained that "we do not know with whom he met and what he discussed", his counterpart in New Delhi confirmed that Mr Naik had met Mr Vajpayee, and his Principal Secretary, Mr Brajesh Mishra.

Mr Naik is understood to have brought a message from Mr Sharif on defusing the crisis.

A spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry remained tight-lipped on Mr Naik’s visit but confirmed that the emissary had met the Prime Minister and his Principal Secretary.

He refused to divulge whether Mr Naik was on a private visit or on an official visit maintaining that he was not in a position to categorise the nature of the visit.

He said Mr Vajpayee and Mr Sharif had exchanged messages on the Kargil situation with New Delhi asserting that Islamabad must withdraw its forces and extremist elements from the Indian side of the Line of Control.

The Prime Minister also conveyed to Mr Naik that "it was our continuing interest in resuming the Lahore process once this happens (the intrusion is vacated)".

Explaining the decision of the Government to keep details of Mr Naik’s meetings a closely guarded affair, the spokesman explained that there was a certain degree of sensitivity involved in such missions. "We can only confirm that Mr Naik’s visit took place", he added.

The day’s developments clearly indicated that the Pakistan Government was adopting a cautious approach in making public its diplomatic effort to resolve the crisis.

The spokesman in Islamabad told reporters that "neither Mr Naik briefed any Pakistani official on his visit to New Delhi nor the Government of Pakistan had sought any briefing from him".

Sources in the Pakistani establishment have been quoted as saying that Mr Naik had been sent on a secret visit to New Delhi to deliver some new proposals from the Nawaz Sharif government to the Indian authorities to break the Kargil impasse.

Incidentally, Mr Naik’s visit to New Delhi coincided with the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Gibson Lanpher.

The Indian spokesman said Mr Naik’s visit was entirely different from the visit of the US official and Mr Lanpher was on a briefing mission to India.

Mr Naik’s visit to India was preceded by visits to Indonesia and some other South East Asian countries as special envoy of Mr Sharif to garner support for Pakistan on the Kargil issue.

In this context, Mr Naik’s visit to India runs counter to Islamabad’s assertion that his visit to New Delhi was a private one.

Also the fact that Mr Naik came by a special plane even when regular commercial flights were available to him indicates that the visit had official sanction.

The Islamabad emissary’s visit to India comes in the wake of reports that Pakistan is looking for a way out from the current impasse. This was clearly spelt out by the Pakistan Army Chief, General Pervez Musharraf in Karachi on Saturday when he said that Pakistan was trying to find out a "compatible solution" to the situation. He indicated that the solution should be agreeable to Pakistan, the USA and India.

The encouraging developments on the diplomatic front was, however, marred by a complaint from Islamabad that one of its High Commission staff in New Delhi had been missing since last night.

A Foreign Ministry statement in Islamabad said Mr Dil Fayyaz left the High Commission last evening and since then there had been no trace of him.

The spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry however, did not confirm the whereabouts of the Pakistan High Commission staffer saying he had also seen the report. "I will get back to you once I have something" was all he said.

The statement from Islamabad said the Foreign Ministry had summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad to discuss the official’s disappearance and reminded the New Delhi authorities that they were responsible for his safety.

"It was also conveyed that in the case of kidnapping, the Indian Government must take every effort to trace his whereabouts and secure his immediate release" the statement said.

"In the event that the Pakistani official has been taken into custody by Indian security agencies, he should be released forthwith and treated in accordance with established norms", the statement said.