New Delhi:
In the first visit to India by a Pakistani head of state in seven years, President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India on Sunday expressed a mutual desire to improve relations between their rival South Asian nations, and Mr. Singh announced that he would at some point visit Pakistan for the first time since taking office.
The meeting was not a formal summit meeting, and diplomats tried to tamp down expectations. Mr. Zardari had originally asked to make a private visit to an important Muslim religious site, the Ajmer Sharif shrine, in Rajasthan State. Mr. Singh then invited him to make a detour to New Delhi for lunch.
The diplomatic choreography ended with Mr. Zardari's arrival in New Delhi on Sunday. The two met for 40 minutes at Mr. Singh's official residence and discussed a variety of issues, including the disputed region of Kashmir and the Pakistani militant Hafiz Saeed, who is accused of directing the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that stopped a potential thawing between the countries. The leaders also voiced support for expanding trade ties and agreed to loosen visa restrictions to allow citizens to move more easily between the countries.
The question now is how soon Mr. Singh will be able to visit Pakistan, a trip that many analysts regard as instrumental to any major diplomatic breakthroughs. Since taking office nearly eight years ago, he has often voiced a desire to visit Pakistan, but he has yet to make the trip, either because of political considerations at home or because of fraught relations between the countries.
"I am very satisfied with the outcome of the visit," Mr. Singh said during a short public appearance with Mr. Zardari after their meeting. "President Zardari has also invited me to visit Pakistan. I would be very happy to visit Pakistan at a mutually convenient date."
Mr. Zardari described their meeting as a "fruitful" one in which "all topics" were discussed. The two leaders "hope to meet on Pakistan soil very soon," he added.
India and Pakistan, whose relationship holds the key to peace and stability in South Asia, have been engaged in fitful efforts to make diplomatic progress since November 2008, when the Mumbai attacks killed at least 163 people. India immediately broke off talks, and years later it remains unsatisfied with Pakistan's commitment to pursuing the case. In particular, Indian security officials want to see Pakistan take action against Mr. Saeed, who is described as the leader of the militant group thought to be behind the attacks, Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Last week, the United States announced a $10 million reward for information leading to the capture of Mr. Saeed, a move widely praised in India and widely condemned in Pakistan. Mr. Saeed lives openly in the city of Lahore, where he oversees a religious charity that serves as a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba. Recently, he has been leading large anti-American rallies around Pakistan.
Ranjan Mathai, the Indian foreign secretary, said the two leaders discussed Mr. Saeed on Sunday. "President Zardari said the matter needed to be discussed further," Mr. Mathai said, adding that the Indian home secretary and the Pakistani interior secretary would discuss Mr. Saeed at a meeting.
Some analysts questioned whether Mr. Singh could muster the political capital in India to carry through with a Pakistan visit if Pakistan did not first take action against Mr. Saeed.
"I don't think the prime minister is yet politically clear as to when he can go," said Gopalapuram Parthasarathy, who was once India's high commissioner to Pakistan. "There is a huge amount of anger on the Hafiz Saeed issue."
He added: " 'Mutually convenient date' is deliberately vague, though Mr. Zardari said, 'Very soon.' Let's see."
Sunday's visit to India by a top-level Pakistani delegation was one of only a very few in recent years that did not involve cricket in some way. The last visit by a Pakistani head of state was in 2005, when Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Mr. Singh together watched about an hour of a series final match between the two countries. (Pakistan won, for the record.) And last year, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani of Pakistan sat in the stands with Mr. Singh during the India-Pakistan World Cup cricket semifinal. (India won that one.)
Not long after Mr. Gilani's visit, the two countries resumed a broad diplomatic dialogue on issues including water rights, terrorism, energy, Kashmir and trade. Mr. Singh and Mr. Zardari have tried to push the talks forward, though both are too weakened politically at home to make any deals on their own.
For now, the most progress has come in trade, and next week the two countries are scheduled to open a new border checkpoint that is expected to increase commerce.
© 2012, The New York Times News Service