Musharraf, left, and Vajpayee, a step forward? (AFP)

By Asif Farooqi, IOL Pakistan correspondent

ISLAMABAD, January 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -  The two south Asian nuclear rivals India and Pakistan Monday, January 5, held a landmark meeting in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on the sidelines of a regional summit when Atal Behari Vajepayee of India met President Pervez Musharraf at the latter’s official residence.

This was the first meeting of the two leaders since Agra talks which failed miserably in 2001 when Musharraf abruptly left the Indian recreational city where the two leaders were about to sign a joint declaration at the conclusion of three days of talking.

The following months saw military buildup on borders and the two neighbors were pulled off from a war only by international intervention.

Monday’s meeting between the two leaders was termed as a breakthrough in bilateral relations. No details were, however, given about the contents of the meeting.

Vajpayee and Musharraf met for over an hour in what was termed a “courtesy call” by the Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha. “It was a courtesy call as we had requested on General Pervez Musharraf” Sinha said and told the questioning media not to expect much in terms of the outcome of the meeting.

He, however, said the two leaders agreed to continue to be in contact in future and to keep alive the spirit of peace process initiated by Vajapyee in April this year.

But Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed dubbed the meeting as historic. “The two leaders discussed all the issues of bilateral nature. They have made some concrete decisions and you will see the outcome very soon” Ahmed added.

He said officials from both sides were meeting to prepare a joint declaration which later would be issued by the Indian Foreign Minister.

But Indian Foreign Minister when met reporters later in the day issued no joint statement. “We should be very careful while making comments about such a high level meeting” Sinha said while his attention was drawn towards the statement made by the Pakistani information minister.

He said he would neither comment on the contents of the meeting nor would he respond to statements from other (Pakistani) side.

He, however, said the Indian delegation has extended some proposals to Pakistan on which India wants progress. He did not elaborate what were these proposals and whether they were discussed by the two top leaders.

Sinha said both leaders appreciated the recent confidence building measures taken by both sides and agreed to continue with the spirit.

As was earlier reported, the two leaders did not meet one-on-one, a format approved of for closer consultations at the head of the government level. Delegations comprising of Foreign minister, secretaries and high commissioners assisted the two leaders in the discussions.

During the course of discussions, well-informed sources told Islamonline.net Indian Prime Minister invited General Pervez Musharraf to Delhi to participate in the Independence Day celebrations on August 15th.

This is a symbolic day for Pakistan and India as the two nations got independence from British imperial rule in 1947. Pakistanis celebrate their independence day on 14th of August.

Similarly, the sources also said the two leaders agreed on starting a fresh process of dialogue between the two countries. The process would start at the levels of foreign secretaries and go up to the summit level as the contentious issues would be thoroughly discussed.

Announcement to this affect is expected once the agenda of discussions and other related issues are settled through contacts in the following weeks.

Sources said Indian National Security Advisor Barjesh Mishra played a key role in bringing the two sides closer to an agreement on resumption of dialogue.

Although he had no role in the SAARC meeting, he came to Islamabad two days ahead of Vajpayee and met some senior members of Pakistani establishment including President Musharraf and other senior military and civil officials before the arrival of the Indian leader.