Musharraf to head big team to India

A 70-member official delegation will accompany President General Pervez Musharraf on his visit to India from July 14 to 16, official sources said yesterday.

The team includes Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz, Interior Minister Lt.-Gen. (retd.) Moinuddin Haider and Science and Technology Minister Dr Ataur Rehman. Foreign secretary Inamul Haq and Major-General Rashid Qureshi, director general of inter-services public relations and press secretary to Musharraf, will be among senior civil and military officials in the delegation.

Musharraf has said he will focus on the Kashmir dispute in his talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, but other issues will also come up. The composition of the delegation indicates the two sides will take up confidence-building measures such as trade, technical cooperation, easing of travel restrictions, cooperation in drug control and the military standoff at the Siachen glacier.

The question of granting of MFN (most favoured nation) status by Pakistan to India is not likely to figure in the talks, as Commerce Minister Razaq Dawood has not been included in the team. Foreign Office Spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan said on Friday the MFN issue could be discussed at a later stage if a dialogue process was set in motion by the summit. A large number of media people, including editors and prominent columnists, are also proceeding to India for the landmark visit.

Meanwhile, Musharraf, in continuing consultations with a cross-section of the intelligentsia, invited former foreign ministers, retired generals and intellectuals on Saturday. The participants included former Foreign Ministers Gohar Ayub Khan, Agha Shahi, Sartaj Aziz, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan and Sardar Assef Ahmed Ali.

Also present were former ISI chief, Hamid Gul, and former army chief, Mirza Aslam Beg. An official statement said the participants described Kashmir as the "heart of the problem" between Pakistan and India. Musharraf told them he was going to India with an open mind but he was "firm in his belief about the centrality of the Kashmir issue".

The president expressed the confidence that given a similar realisation in India, the summit would help initiate a process leading to the resolution of the core issue. The president previously held intensive consultations with politicians, religious leaders and scholars, his top military colleagues and editors of national dailies.