India's PM calls for end to rivalries

India’s prime minister called on South Asia’s nations to put aside a long history of suspicion and “petty rivalries” and embrace a future of trust and understanding, before a historic meeting with his Pakistani counterpart.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee called on the seven heads of state gathered in the Pakistani capital Islamabad for a key summit to work together to fight poverty and improve the lives of their impoverished people, and pledged US $100m to fund a poverty alleviation task force.

“We have to change South Asia’s image and standing in the world. We must make a transition from mistrust to trust, from discord to concord and from tension to peace,” said the Indian leader, who is in Pakistan for the first time in nearly five years.

“The bonds of religion, language, ethnicity and culture which hold us together as a South Asian family are far more enduring than the relatively recent divisions and political prejudice that we have erected. We should renew these bonds to jointly overcome poverty, disease and hunger,” he said.

Vajpayee met later with Pakistani Prime Minster Zafarullah Khan Jamali, and state television showed the two men shaking hands and smiling warmly. It was not clear what they discussed, although both sides had said they were unlikely to talk about flashpoint issues like Kashmir.

The Indian prime minister will also meet with President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s main powerbroker, said Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha. Sinha said the meeting would likely take place on Monday.

Jamali had earlier praised his Indian counterpart as “a visionary, a poet, a prolific writer and an able politician,” adding that he exhibited “the qualities of a true leader”.

In his speech, Vajpayee thanked his Pakistani hosts for their “warm hospitality” and for their organisation of the three-day South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation summit, but he skirted any specific reference to recent peace overtures made by both sides.

His calls for unity and understanding were clearly a reference to the India-Pakistan relationship, wracked by three wars and a nuclear arms race that has deepened the poverty of their people.

The 79-year-old leader called for a brighter future to replace the painful memories of a bloody past.

“Mutual suspicions and petty rivalries have continued to haunt us. As a result, a peace dividend has bypassed our region,” he said.

“History can remind us, guide us, teach us or inform us. It should not shackle us.”

In recent months, India and Pakistan have enforced a cease-fire among their forces in the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir and restored high-level diplomatic ties. Bus, train and air links have also been restored.

No formal peace dialogue has begun, and many are looking to the sidelines of the summit in hopes that the Indian and Pakistani leaders will cement the recent overtures through their first face-to-face talks in years.

Vajpayee’s visit to Pakistan would have been unthinkable not long ago, when both nations rushed hundreds of thousands of troops to their common border following a December 2001 attack on India’s Parliament that New Delhi blamed on Islamic militants and Pakistani intelligence agents.

India accuses Pakistan of backing Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, while Pakistan says it only provides the insurgents with moral and political support for a cause it sees as just.

India and Pakistan each hold a portion of Kashmir – but claim the area in its entirety.