Word: pakistani
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When the leaders of two snarling nations are personally committed to better ties, why is that so hard to accomplish? On the surface, a long list of differences separate Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. One is devoted to Hindu nationalism, the other to a strong Muslim nation. One governs the world's most populous democracy, the other rules by diktat. India's leader is 20 years older and the frail veteran of 47 years in politics; Pakistan's is a fit career soldier whose political life began just two years ago in a military...
...northern Indian city of Agra, the two leaders looked ready to achieve a historic meeting of minds. The determined general and the affable poet-politician practically embraced as they showered each other with compliments. Vajpayee called Musharraf a "distinguished son of Delhi" (where he was born), and the Pakistani leader dubbed his counterpart India's "graceful elder." They parleyed in private for hours while aides anxiously waited outside the door. But the bonhomie ran aground on Kashmir when they could not agree even on whether to call it a "dispute," as Musharraf demanded, or an "issue," as Vajpayee insisted...
...general was, of course, the same man who had spoiled Vajpayee's previous peace initiative toward Pakistan. In early 1999, while Vajpayee and democratically elected President Nawaz Sharif were initialing a new chapter in bilateral relations in Lahore, Musharraf, then chief of the Pakistani armed forces, was orchestrating a daring incursion into Kashmir, into the Indian-held Kargil Heights. That provoked six weeks of bloody combat, cutting dead Vajpayee's cherished Lahore process...
Then Musharraf emerged as Washington's prized ally, earning global praise for his tough conversion to fighting terrorism. Secretary of State Colin Powell visited Islamabad in October and came away struck by how different Musharraf seemed from typical Pakistani strongmen obsessed with domestic order and India. Powell saw in Musharraf a military man of unusually creative intelligence who could focus on an objective, then determine the steps needed to get there. Powell reported back to Bush that Musharraf "quite distinctly intended over the long term to eliminate the sources of extremism" in his country...
...success of that venture inspired Pakistan's military leaders to start helping insurgents fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, in hopes of equally spectacular dividends. The ISI even has a wing devoted to supporting the Kashmir insurgency. The Pakistani military initially trained indigenous Kashmiri militants, but in 1992--after a brutal Indian crackdown almost snuffed the separatist movement--it began funneling foreign jihadis to Kashmir, expecting their zeal would revive the conflict...