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"Well, the fact is there has been all this talk of good ties with India. This is fine. But what will it change in our lives?" asked Mukhtar Saeed, a middle-aged office worker watching television while having his breakfast at a roadside eatery in the Icchra area. Youngsters collected around the TV set, watched initially with some excitement, but then seemed to become bored as they drifted away.
In another corner, the elderly Shaukat Baba narrated tales of the days when Hindus and Sikhs lived in Lahore in large numbers to a small but amused audience, who apparently saw more entertainment in his often jovial stories than in the pictures from India. The lively discussions on Kashmir and India-Pakistan relations, aired on many television channels, have however created some stir.
Ali, a college student, and his father, Sultan, a businessman, had both set alarms to rise early and watch the telecast. "My father thinks good ties will really give business a boost, while I have watched some programmes on BBC and become really interested in the whole issue. I think Kashmir needs to be solved along pragmatic rather than emotional lines," Ali told Gulf News.
Indeed, PTV's extensive coverage of the summit is generating greater interest, and in many households the events are being at least casually followed. However, the question of what most Pakistanis hope will come from the summit is a less certain one.
A poll, conducted by Gallup Pakistan a few days ago, found that over 60 per cent of respondents in major cities were "pessimistic" about any positive outcome from the summit.
They seemed to take the view that "all that was being said is political rhetoric" and saw little hope of a breakthrough.
However, more recent telephonic polls conducted by several leading newspapers indicate the mood is somewhat more upbeat and about 50 per cent of the participants believed "things between India and Pakistan will take a turn for the better as an outcome of the summit."
