When Shaukat Aziz landed in Delhi on November 23, the first Pakistan prime minister to do so in 13 years, neither side expected any breakthrough in relations. After all, his visit was primarily as chairman of SAARC and his focus was to see if the "embarrassing lack of progress" on key development issues affecting the region could be reversed. Moreover, Aziz is considered a political lightweight and everyone knows that it is President Pervez Musharraf who calls the shots in Pakistan.

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TWO OF A KIND: Shaukat Aziz (left) and Manmohan Singh in Delhi

Yet, given the chill that had set in following the flurry of verbal assaults between the two countries over progress on the Kashmir issue, Aziz's visit saw bilateral relations jump to the forefront. In the saddle as prime minister for just three months and with hardly any diplomatic experience, it was unclear whether Aziz would be up to the challenge. His only advantage: like Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh he is an expert on finance and the two were expected to converse with ease. Aziz set the tone for the meeting by saying that he wasn't in India to conduct "any transactions". His effort was to reduce the "trust deficit", he added.

The Pakistan prime minister knew he had his task cut out. Manmohan's categorical assertion in Srinagar the previous week that India would not permit any redrawing of the border or a second partition of India virtually put paid to Musharraf's latest proposals on Kashmir. At an iftaar party on October 25, Musharraf had proposed that disputed territories in Kashmir be demilitarised and jointly administered by the two countries. He also said Pakistan would be willing to drop the demand for a plebiscite if India moved away from its position of the loc being the international border.

India felt that Musharraf's proposals were essentially old wine in a new bottle and were unworkable. Also, by talking of territorial alterations, it gave the impression that Manmohan had given the nod for such negotiations after their "historic" first meeting in New York in September. With Manmohan's categorical assertions on cartography, Musharraf, who was already under flak at home for dropping the plebiscite demand, began to backtrack. At a speech in Lahore before Aziz landed in Delhi, Musharraf reverted to Pakistan's maximalist position and ruled out making any unilateral concessions. With evident anger, he stated, "We will not move all the way. If India moves half way we will move half way."

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UNITY MOVES: Aziz (centre) with Hurriyat Conference leaders

It was left to Aziz to begin the delicate process of mending fences and prodding the dialogue forward. With his long stint in the private sector as a successful banker, Aziz said he likes to get to the "core issue" quickly. During a meeting with editors, he bluntly stated that he didn't believe in the Indian approach of "cherry picking" issues. India had advocated moving forward on confidence-building measures (CBMs) like enhancing people to people contact and liberalising trade movement so that there would be enough trust to take on the tough issue of Kashmir. Aziz was clear. "It has to be in tandem. Credible progress has to be made on Kashmir for good relations to be sustainable," he said.

Aziz also used the visit to try and unite the various factions of the Hurriyat Conference. He met all the groups individually first before inviting all of them for dinner. But Pakistani officials acknowledged that differences seemed to persist. While India refused to comment on Aziz's meeting with the Hurriyat, to prove a point, Kashmiri leaders Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were invited to the lunch hosted for Aziz by Manmohan.

CAREFUL WHISPERS

DAMAGE CONTROL: Aziz had the delicate task of mending fences with India after Musharraf jumped the gun and upset Delhi by his proposals on Kashmir. PEACE PROCESS: Aziz did not offer any new proposal but kept a window of opportunity open for the peace dialogue. HURRIYAT UNITY: Aziz tried to unite the fractious Hurriyat Conference but could not succeed in cementing the schisms between the members. ECONOMIC FACE: Aziz tried to send the message that peace would earn rich dividends for both India and Pakistan.

Before the lunch, in their meeting with aides, the two prime ministers used the opportunity to restate their positions. Manmohan put on record the statements he made in Srinagar about the red lines in negotiations. Aziz then stated that Musharraf's comments were hypothetical solutions meant to generate an internal debate. Right through the Pakistan prime minister spoke with measure. "He did not want to send any wrong signals nor give anything away," says an official.

The two sides, however, spoke frankly about their concerns. They agreed to push the pace in the meetings next month for various CBMs, including the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar bus link. By announcing a steady de-induction of troops in Kashmir before his Srinagar visit, Manmohan had already signalled India's commitment to peace. Pakistan couldn't really complain because troop reduction in Kashmir was one of its major demands. As a gesture, Manmohan called up Aziz when he landed and stated that if the Berlin Wall could fall he couldn't see why Pakistan and India could not bury their differences.

Aziz said he was open to all options but emphasised that the two countries needed to move the relationship "from the tactical to the strategic" as peace between them would mean prosperity for the region. Aziz did show signs of irritation over the fact that India was not moving fast enough on the gas pipeline project connecting Iran and India via Pakistan. He asserted that Pakistan was going ahead with the pipeline "irrespective of whether India was on board or not". After his meeting with Manmohan, Aziz told india today, "It went very well. We spoke our minds on Kashmir and the ways we could move forward on peace. We agreed that it won't be a 100 m dash."

India too seems satisfied by the outcome. As an official says, "The impression that things were going downhill between the two countries after the recent assertions has been removed. We are back on track." In Indo-Pak relations, though, nothing remains permanent. Including statements.

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