Will General Pervez Musharraf’s peace yatra to India help Pakistan inch closer to a resolution of the Kashmir and other disputes, and usher in an era of peace and prosperity in the subcontinent and South Asia?

            That is the question uppermost in people’s minds as Musharraf embarks on his India trip.

            A tall order that, given Siachen and Kargil and Kashmir and cross-border terrorism.  India and Pakistan have only traded insults and accusations ever since the Kargil episode nearly two years ago.

            Common sense then demands that one keep one’s expectations on a reasonable plane and not get carried away by the euphoria of the moment.  There are many bridges to cross, obstacles to overcome, lobbies to circumvent and hawks to appease.  The mutual mistrust and hostility of 54 years cannot be wished away in three days.  And yet the masses on both sides of the divide wait with bated breath.  Their lives have been scarred by the battle for the bullet and the bomb between two long-time adversaries.  Defence expenditure has taken priority over all else – healthcare, education, food, water, electricity, roads, development.  And now the people want out of this permanent state of no war, no peace.  The tension is killing.

            There is a section of society that believes it can happen – that if any one can broker a lasting settlement, it is a military government on this side of the divide and a fundamentalist government on the other.  Interestingly, General Musharraf has even decided to don a civilian cap, ostensibly to meet the Indian Prime Minister on an even keel, ruffling many feathers locally and abroad in the process.  But Vajpayee and the Indian establishment are not unduly concerned.  Reportedly the general’s ancestral home in Delhi is being given a facelift and a trip to the legendary Taj Mahal forms part of Musharraf’s planned itinerary.  There is bonhomie in the air.  But will it translate into camaraderie on the negotiating table?

            For that, it is imperative that the two leaders show restraint, flexibility and a certain willingness to step back from their oft-stated positions if need be, in the tradition of true statesmen.  This historic opportunity should not be frittered away in jingoistic exercises or mere rhetoric.

            The eyes of the world will be on these two newly nuclear states as Vajpayee and Musharraf sit across the table to thrash out the most contentious issues that have kept the two countries in a near state of war for more than half a century and set alarm bells ringing in the rest of the world, and more specifically South Asia.

            For both men, the summit is a gamble, given the stakes.  But both know the bottom line: peace is an imperative, for the alternative is too alarming even to consider.