Manmohan and Zardari: Leaders in search of a 'peace legacy'

On the menu for today’s lunch that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is hosting for the visiting Pakistani President will be goshtaba, a Kashmiri meatball prepared with curd and curry, and dosa-avial from the South of India. Yet, on the big question of whether a roadmap for peace between India and Pakistan will be on the menu of the one-on-one talks that the two leaders will hold, without note-takers, before the lunch, there isn’t great clarity. In many ways, both Singh and Zardari have very little wiggle room to negotiate anything dramatic; and for all their personable persona, both leaders have little political goodwill in their respective countries to be able to hardsell any grand vision. [caption id=“attachment_269173” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“What can they deliver? Reuters”]  [/caption] Yet, curiously, just the fact that both leaders are at a crossroads in their respective political career gives them an incentive to draw up a roadmap for peace that would represent their “combined legacy”. According to some media accounts, the precise details of such an outcome may not be made known immediately, but it wold reside as a template for the next-generation of leaders of the two countries can draw inspiration from. In that context, media hype is centred on the likely meeting of “next-generation leaders” from both side. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Zardari’s son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari are to attend the lunch, and according to media accounts will likely “hit it off” despite the age gap: Rahul Gandhi is 41, Bilawal is just 23. Precisely what perspective these pampered dynasts can bring to the strained and complex Indo-Pakistan relations is hard to fathom, but that hasn’t inhibited the media from gushing about the meeting of the “yuvrajs” The Times of India reported breathlessly, citing a government official, that at their first meeting, Bilawal and Rahul Gandhi would have enough time over lunch to talk and “get to know each other better." The Telegraph reports, citing unidentified sources, that at their talks both Singh and Zardari will look to draw up a “forward looking” roadmap for peace. The effort will be to avoid subjects that would embarrass the other side. If that’s true, it seems unlikely that Lashkar-e-Taiba leader and 26/11 terror mastermind Hamid Saeed will be discussed at the talks, even though the Indian side has reason to be displeased by the Pakistani government’s defence of a man who has blood of innocent people in his hands. Similarly, Pakistan might refrain from raising controversial issues, particularly Kashmir, the report suggested. The first time that Manmohan Singh and Zardari met – in 2008 in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting – Singh asked Zardari to extradite underworld leader Dawood Ibrahim, who enjoys sanctuary in Pakistan. Zardari responded by saying that since he had only recently replaced a military dictator (Musharraf) who had been in power for eight years, it would be difficult for him to deliver on big promises. He instead suggested that the two countries focus on small issues, including Siachen, that impeded relations between them. Zardari came under pressure at the last minute at home to call off his “private visit” to India and instead visit Siachen, where over 100 Pakistani troops are feared killed in an avalanche. Zardari also received a caution – from an unlikely source – that his visit to Ajmer dargah, the principal purpose of his visit, could prove inauspicious. Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray, who consistently opposes any effort by India to normalise relations with Pakistan, reminded Zardari that the last Pakistani leader to visit Ajmer was General Pervez Musharraf - who lost power and had to leave his country after his Ajmer visit. Thackeray also said that whatever it was that Zardari was coming to Ajmer to pray for, his prayers would not be answered. “The place of worship is situated in India. How will the prayers of those who have an evil eye on India be answered, Thackeray wondered. Given the atmospherics and the absence of a structured dialogue during this “private visit”, few expect anything concrete to come of today’s meeting. Even the precise details of any roadmap for peace that they will draw up for “next generation” leaders to follow up on may not be known for a while. There’s only so much that even leaders who are desperate for a legacy may be able to  deliver.