Pakistan welcomes the Congress government, writes Iffat Idris from Islamabad It has been a big week for Pakistan in terms of foreign relations. The swearing-in of a new Indian government and Pakistan's re-admission to the Commonwealth after an absence of almost five years heralds an advance in Islamabad's peace process with India and a successful outcome of its efforts towards international rehabilitation. Of all countries, it is perhaps the US and India that have the greatest impact on Pakistan. Elections in both countries are therefore very closely watched in Islamabad. The result that emerged on 13 May, after the multi-stage Indian polls, was one that few in India, let alone Pakistan, could have predicted. All the signs -- the peace process with Pakistan initiated by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a booming economy, the successful Indian cricket tour of Pakistan -- generated a "feel-good factor" in India and pointed to certain victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dominated coalition. Indeed, the question for most analysts was not if the BJP would win, but by how big a margin? Victory by Sonia Gandhi's Congress Party therefore came as a shock to Islamabad. The immediate question in the Pakistani capital was: "How will the change in India affect the Indo-Pak peace process?" As indicated above, the current peace process was initiated by out-going Prime Minister Vajpayee, and very much had his personal stamp on it. Would the new Congress-led government continue Vajpayee's work or -- in the tradition of new governments -- would it reject it as something belonging to its predecessor and opponent? Islamabad had no cause for worry. For a start, Congress has always been far less hard-line and belligerent towards Pakistan than the BJP; Vajpayee's peace initiative marked a dramatic reverse of the normal BJP anti-Pakistan rhetoric. Both Sonia Gandhi and the eventual Prime Minister Manmohan Singh clarified early after victory became apparent that they would continue the peace initiative with Pakistan. In response to journalists' questions, Ms Gandhi said that, "From the very beginning we supported Mr Vajpayee's initiative with Pakistan." This thought was reiterated by Singh at one of his first press conferences: "We seek the most friendly relations with our neighbours, more so with Pakistan than with any other country...We must find ways to resolve all outstanding problems that have been a source of friction and the unfortunate history of our relations with Pakistan," he insisted. The biggest "outstanding problem" has, of course, been Kashmir. Singh has made it clear that addressing such issues and improving relations with Pakistan will be a priority of his government. The Pakistan government reciprocated the reassuring words coming out of New Delhi. Congratulating his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Jamali said, "We are confident that under your leadership, Pakistan and India relations will continue to develop and the process of composite talks for the resolution of all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, will be productive." Masood Khan, a spokesman for Pakistan's foreign minister, repeated that, "No problem is intractable if there is a will to work towards just and durable solutions." Indian and Pakistani officials are due to hold confidence-building talks on nuclear issues in Islamabad at the end of this month, followed by talks on the problem of drug trafficking in mid-June. In August foreign ministers of the two countries will have a summit meeting in June. Ironically, the only prospective cloud on the horizon is the out-going BJP. Some analysts are predicting that in opposition, the party will revert to its traditional hard line Hindu stance, and with that its traditional belligerence towards Pakistan. As long as Mr Vajpayee remains leader of the party, however, that is unlikely. And Pakistan has one more card in its favour: the 71-year old prime minister designate was actually born in the village of Gah, in what is now Pakistan. Proof of the Indian commitment to good relations with Pakistan came early too. On Saturday the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in London to decide whether to re-admit Pakistan to the Commonwealth. Pakistan's membership was suspended following the 1999 military coup that ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The condition cited for re-entry was the restoration of full democracy. India was one of the countries that backed the move to readmit Pakistan. In October 2002 elections were held for the National and Provincial Assemblies in Pakistan. Those polls led to a civilian government headed by Prime Minister Zafarullah Jamali taking power. The presidency of Pervez Musharraf was endorsed by the Assemblies, enabling him to stay in that position for five years. Despite this apparent restoration of democracy, Pakistan's bid for re-admission to the Commonwealth at last September's CMAG meeting in New York was turned down. Concerns were expressed then about the true substance of Pakistan's democracy. Little has changed between then and now in terms of democracy. Indeed, the recent expulsion of Shahbaz Sharif and the jailing of opposition leader Javed Hashmi, indicate that the military is still very much running the show in Pakistan. The main reason the CMAG decided to put aside its democratic concerns was because of Pakistan's support for the "war on terror". Britain, in particular, was keen for Pakistan to be "rewarded" for its support by being re-admitted to the Commonwealth. Membership of the Commonwealth brings some advantages; for example, facilitating Pakistani students who wish to study in Britain and other member countries. But its real importance is symbolic: it is proof of Pakistan's acceptance by the international community and a stamp of approval for its restoration of democracy. The Pakistan government was, not surprisingly, delighted. Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed claimed: "It is a moral victory of the democratically elected government of Pakistan." Opposition leaders in Pakistan, however, opposed the country's re-admission to the Commonwealth on the grounds that democracy has not yet been restored. They were disappointed by the CMAG decision. Re-admission is not without conditions, though. Don McKinnon, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, stressed that, "CMAG agreed to remain seized of the situation by retaining Pakistan on its agenda." He said the group would review Pakistan at its meeting in September in New York, and that Pakistan had to fully implement amendments to its constitution "in letter and spirit". The specific action that the CMAG will be looking for is "separation of the offices of the president and chief of army staff". At present, General Musharraf holds both positions but has promised to give up the latter by the end of the year. Should he fail to do so, he could find himself back in trouble with the Commonwealth.
