India, Pakistan do some plainspeaking

new delhi: pervez musharraf's india visit began saturday with some plainspeaking. india flagged its concern over cross-border terrorism and the pakistan president advocated self-determination for the kashmiris. but this did not detract from the atmospherics of the event. a pakistani head of state was received at the rashtrapati bhavan with a 21-gun salute.and he in turn visited mahatma gandhi's samadhi, a visit which mirrors prime minister atal bihari vajpayee's trip to minar-e-pakistan on his lahore trip. in the visitor's book at raj ghat, musharraf commented on the relevance of peace and non-violence in india-pakistan relations. the sentiment was marred by news from the border, about exchanges of fire between the two sides. possibly reacting to some tough-talking recently by pakistan, india did some plainspeaking itself through the ministers who called on the visiting president. ''our concerns about militancy and terrorism were conveyed,'' an external affairs ministry spokeswoman confirmed. home minister l k advani talked to musharraf about cross-border terrorism and the possible extradition of dawood ibrahim, the underworld don who has been reportedly rehabilitated in pakistan. he also mentioned 'other criminals' who had fled across the border. external affairs and defence minister jaswant singh rejected pakistan's focus on kashmir. but, as before, delhi maintained that anything, including jammu and kashmir, could be discussed ''freely and frankly.'' singh said told the media after his meeting that it wrong to reject past accords, a reference to pakistan's unenthusiastic references to the simla agreement and the lahore declaration. singh said the two countries should learn from past experiences. later in the day, pakistan said it had been misquoted: it had not repudiated the past accords. it only wanted a review to see why they hadn't led to progress in bilateral relations. at the banquet hosted for musharraf, president k r narayanan too recalled the simla agreement and the lahore declaration, saying that the two countries should build on them during this visit. musharraf stuck to kashmir on the first day of his three-day visit, which will take him to agra on sunday for the actual summit with prime minister atal bihari vajpayee. he made his point by meeting hurriyat leaders at his high commissioner ashraf jehangir qazi's reception, despite indian objections conveyed earlier to pakistan. and he endorsed the kashmiris' ``right'' to self-determination. musharraf's `arrival statement'' released to the press was kashmir-centric, though he said he had come with an open mind and wanted to establish tension free relations with india. ''for more than half a century, the kashmir dispute has cast a shadow on relations between pakistan and india,'' he said. ''in my talks with the indian leaders, i will be looking forward to meaningful, frank and substantial discussion urging them to join hands with us in resolving this dispute in accordance with the wishes of the kashmiri people.'' ``this will facilitate resolution of all other issues and lead to a full normalisation of relations,'' he said, stressing his kashmir first stand. musharraf's delegation includes just one minister, foreign minister abdul sattar, which some observers in delhi see as a pakistani attempt to maintain the focus on kashmir during the visit. india, which sees jammu and kashmir as part of a composite dialogue with pakistan, has pointedly included commerce minister murasoli maran in its own delegation. jaswant singh, l k advani and finance minister yashwant sinha will also travel to agra. but summing up musharraf's meetings with the ministers and vice president krishan kant -- he also met leader of the opposition sonia gandhi -- the foreign office said their tenor was positive. ``both sides have agreed that we need to move beyond the past.'' musharraf wore a white sherwani when he landed in delhi, but was into a western suit by the time he went into lunch at the taj palace hotel with vajpayee and over 100 'eminent indians.' including politicians, actors, activists, and editors. reportedly, musharraf and vajpayee made only small talk during the lunch. there were customary speeches however at the banquet thrown in the evening for him by president k r narayanan. the president said musharraf visit was ``on any reckoning a historic one,'' and will open a new chapter in bilateral relations. narayanan stressed the need for people-to-people contacts between the two countries. he said the south asian association for regional cooperation (saarc) will be ``transformed'' if india and pakistan improved relations. significantly, he did not mention kashmir even once in his speech. and he said the leaders should take decisions which help the subcontinent's poorest people. if this happened ``all other issues between us will pale into secondary importance and will become amenable to amicable and satisfactory solutions.'' narayanan didn't directly refer to pakistan's kashmir-focused approach to the talks, but he did hint at other issues. when the two leaders sit down for talks in agra, he said, ``i hope the face of the poorest person in the sub-continent will be before you and you will ponder together on how this impoverished common man will be benefited by your deliberations and decisions.''