The decision was taken on Wednesday morning and necessary diplomatic formalities tied up right away, hours before the opening of the two-day summit of South Asian heads of state and government.
The process went off without a hitch at the level of senior officials of both countries who routinely deal with one another. The first handshake between Dr Singh and Mr Gilani took place at the official lunch for the summiteers.
The two will formally meet some time on Thursday. The time of the engagement is not yet determined. Dr Singh’s schedule for the day is already tight with meetings with other Saarc leaders.
Well-placed sources said the Singh-Gilani conversation was expected to last about an hour. It is not so far clear if a joint statement will be issued at the end of it, but this is not being ruled out. Barely had the eight Saarc leaders taken their appointed place on the podium at the start of the summit in the tastefully designed chamber of the Bhutan Parliament, and Indian journalists settled in their seats to survey the proceedings, that Indian officials hurried them out for a briefing.
The external affairs ministry spokesman then made a crisp announcement, “It has been agreed through diplomatic channels that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will be holding a bilateral meeting with the Pakistan Prime Minister on April 29, 2010.” He walked away before any questions could be asked.
Knowledgeable sources said the discussion between the Prime Ministers was likely to be “freewheeling”, and Dr Singh would express India’s concern over Pakistan not taking meaningful action against those who had plotted and executed the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.
Dr Singh would not countenance Pakistani allegations about India instigating anti-Pakistan terrorists in Swat and Balochistan, sources said. Islamabad has strenuously made the charge but offered no evidence.
Speaking to television cameras, Pakistani spokesman Abdul Basit said talks between India and Pakistan should not be linked to terrorism. Sharm-el-Sheikh was the right way to go, he added. External affairs minister S.M. Krishna, meanwhile, told the TV networks: “All issues will be discussed at the bilateral between the two Prime Ministers.”
A senior Indian official said that it was useful to keep in mind that the proposed meeting would be held on the sidelines of a multilateral forum, as was the case with other Saarc leaders. There had been no preparatory meetings at the level of senior officials and foreign ministers, as would normally be the case. Moreover, Dr Singh had not invited his Pakistani counterpart to New Delhi for a structured dialogue.
The Thursday meeting was essentially a signal that India was not closing the door on Pakistan, the source underlined.
A crucial part of Pakistan’s “roadmap” for the resumption of the composite dialogue process that India suspended after 26/11 is a meeting between the two Prime Ministers. Sources said India had no reason to say that it did not support the so-called roadmap aimed at reviving the stalled composite dialogue. But the “road” has to be travelled before the destination is reached, and that implies addressing Indian concerns on the Pakistani nationals who planned and executed the Mumbai attacks.
Anand K. Sahay