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Musharraf Becomes Pakistan's President Ahead of India Trip
NEW DELHI, June 20 (News Agencies) - By becoming president of Pakistan Wednesday, General Pervez Musharraf sought to give a semblance of increased legitimacy to his 20-month rule ahead of his first summit with Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee, analysts here said.
"I consider this development as a good omen. By coming to this summit as the president of Pakistan, decisions taken at the meeting will now be binding on the nation state," said D. Sreedhar, a senior analyst at the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses.
Musharraf was sworn in as president of Pakistan Wednesday, hours after he spoke by telephone with Vajpayee and the day after New Delhi and Islamabad confirmed that the general would visit India from July 14 to 16.
An Indian spokeswoman said India's high commissioner in Islamabad attended the oath taking and that Musharraf "will be visiting India as the president when he arrives July 14."
After a ceremonial reception with the full state honors worthy of a head of state, Musharraf will hold direct talks with Vajpayee at the Taj Mahal city of Agra. Kashmir will be at the top of the agenda.
Sreedhar said one of the reasons for Musharraf's decision to assume the presidency was that his tenure as army chief was ending in the next few months.
"His assuming the office of the president is not an unexpected development. He himself has been talking about it for sometime. For India, we will feel more comfortable talking to a president than a chief executive officer who assumed power through clandestine means," Sreedhar said.
For months after the military coup in Islamabad in October 1999, New Delhi steadfastly rejected any offer of talks by Musharraf, calling him a military dictator.
But while the summit may assume some legal importance with Musharraf holding the title of president, the basic issues at Agra will remain the same.
"It does not change the substance of the summit," said J.N. Dixit, a former Indian foreign secretary.
"He is merely taking up a formal identity and sending a signal that he is in charge and that he enjoys the support of all sections. The development implies that he has consolidated his position," Dixit added.
Writing before Wednesday's developments, foreign affairs expert C. Raja Mohan said in The Hindu newspaper that Musharraf's overall political control over Pakistan has "improved in recent months" with the army tightening its grip over the country.
The assumption in New Delhi was that the general "is here to stay, at least for a while," Mohan said.
In general, the mood in New Delhi has remained unchanged since Vajpayee's May 23 surprise invitation to Musharraf.
Vajpayee said Tuesday that Kashmir is "an integral part of India" and that he will raise the question of Pakistan's "occupation" over 1/3 of the region.
In their telephone conversation Wednesday, Musharraf told Vajpayee that, "these statements are not conducive for the upcoming meeting."
Senior Indian officials have cautioned against high expectations from the summit, saying that they would be satisfied if it led only to an understanding that the Kashmir issue must be resolved.
"It will take a long time," said one official.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since 1947 but remains claimed by both. Part of the Kashmiri population favors total independence.
An insurgency has claimed more than 35,000 lives since 1989, according to Indian figures. Separatist leaders say the death toll is twice as high.
Tensions persist with India over Kashmir. This has fuelled international fears of a regional arms race because both Pakistan and India have a nuclear capabilities.
According to the BBC online archives, Musharraf's military career began in 1964 and is believed to have included two spells of military training in the UK.
He became Director-General of Military Operations when Benazir Bhutto was prime minister, and then head of the army in 1998 after the resignation of General Karamat.
During the 1999 Kashmir crisis with India, he regularly briefed journalists and appeared on state television.
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