Extending the Hand of Friendship Pakistan India

IN more than one way, Lal Krishna Advani is certainly a changed man from the man he was in 2001, when for the first time I met him at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s luncheon in Delhi in honour of General Pervez Musharraf, chief executive of his country, as he then styled himself, prior to the July Agra meetings.

I had one memorable exchange with Mr Vajpayee, a gentle soul. As he shook my hand, I asked “Kitney saal lartey rahengay?,” to which he sincerely responded, “Arrey bhai, abb to bahout hogia, bahout hogia.” Introduced earlier to Mr Advani by Cushrow Irani, editor of The Statesman, I politely suggested that he pay a return visit to the city of his birth. The remark was brusquely dealt with by Advani telling me he would do so in his own time, and at the right time. (This exchange was heard by a sad looking Manmohan Singh, standing silently nearby.)

Advani took his time, and chose exactly the right moment, and this man, known formerly to be a difficult man to deal with as far as Pakistan was concerned, a man hostile to the peace process, and apparently unforgiving, has charmed all he met during his six days in Pakistan. As deputy prime minister and home minister in the government of Mr Vajpayee, it was he who was considered to be the dominant figure. As leader of the opposition, as he has been since last year’s elections, and under India’s functioning parliamentary democracy, he remains one