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162 印巴首脑会议将决定二人的政治前景
Vajpayee, Musharraf Political Futures Depend on Summit
Jim Teeple
New Delhi
13 Jul 2001 13:46 UTC
The leaders of India and Pakistan will have a get-acquainted session Saturday in preparation for a summit that begins Sunday in Agra, the north Indian city that is home of the legendary Taj Mahal. Both sides are 1)playing down 2)expectations for the summit, especially on the issue of Kashmir. While expectations for the summit may be low, the two leaders need a successful summit to boost their 3)sagging political fortunes.
India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is said to view Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, with 4)suspicion; holding him responsible for a mini-war in Kashmir's Kargil region two years ago, when armed 5)intruders occupied Indian military bunkers on the Indian side of the "line of control" that separates Indian and Pakistani-held territory in Kashmir.
More than a thousand Indian troops died trying to 6)oust the intruders. The fighting took place just weeks after Mr. Vajpayee had traveled to Lahore, Pakistan, to meet with then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. That was the last time the leaders of India and Pakistan met. Since then General Musharraf seized and 7)consolidated power, and Mr. Vajapayee won re-election to another term as prime minister.
Brahma Chellaney, a leading security analyst in New Delhi, says both men will be thinking of their political futures when they sit down to talk in Agra. "For Vajpayee and Musharraf, this summit is 8)tactically 9)advantageous," he explains. "For Prime Minister Vajpayee his initiative in inviting Musharraf, he has managed to 10)deflect attention away from his political problems. No one is talking about his intra-coalition challenges or about 11)bribery scandals or about his 12)coalition's poor showing in recent state elections in India. Similarly for Musharraf, dialogue with India is important for improving Pakistan's image with 13)multilateral and 14)bilateral 15)creditors. It is important to build his 16)regime's 17)legitimacy in the eyes of the West and most importantly it allows him a military figure to show he has diplomatic skills."
In recent days the 18)rhetoric surrounding the summit has hardened on both sides, with General Musharraf calling the disputed territory of Kashmir the "core" issue of the summit. Senior Indian officials have responded by saying the "core" issue at the summit will be what they call "cross-border terrorism" in Kashmir. Kanti Bajpai, a professor of International Studies at Jawarharlal Nehru University in New Delhi says rhetoric aside, both sides seem to have a desire to see the summit succeed. "Who would have said three months ago that there would be a summit between these two?" he asks. "The Indian government's formal stand at that time was [that] as long as Islamabad continued to aid the militancy India would not talk to Pakistan. Now the Pakistanis have done some good things militarily, but they have not stopped aiding the militants. So the Indian government has made a fairly dramatic departure from a public position admittedly a position that was not tremendously 19)tenable in the long run, but it has it went out and sent out this invitation. And I think the Pakistanis have responded well. they could have come back and put conditionalities on the talks that would have 20)humiliated the Indians but they did not. And to the extent that there are any discussions on Kashmir, this summit must be counted as a success," added Mr. Bajpai.
Senior officials from both countries have hardened their respective positions in recent days on the issue of Kashmir, making it unlikely the summit will see any major breakthroughs. But Brahma Chellaney says it is also important for both sides to 21)showcase the summit as a success by the time it ends on Monday. "For both Vajpayee and Musharaff, a failed summit is dangerous politically," said Mr. Chellaney. "But that does not guarantee a successful summit. So the official spin will be heavy. They are going to try and tell their domestic 22)constituencies that they made some progress. Now the question is whatever their nation is will they buy that? And will it be 23)tangible progress. Will it be progress on which they can build upon through follow up steps? I think they will certainly show they will try and show they made progress at Agra. I cannot believe they will go back saying the summit failed."
When he was asked what his definition of a successful summit would be, India's Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh replied that he would consider it a success if the summit led simply to an improved atmosphere between India and Pakistan. That modest goal will likely be 24)chanted like a mantra in the coming days by officials from both India and Pakistan eager to claim some measure of success from a summit that few believe will result in any 25)substantive 26)breakthroughs.
(1) play down v.降低, 贬低, 减少
(2) expectation[ekspek5teIF(E)n]n.期待, 预料, 指望, 展望, [数]期望(值)
(3) saggy[`sA^I]adj.松懈的, 下垂的
(4) suspicion[sE`spIFEn]n.猜疑, 怀疑
(5) intruder[In5tru:dE(r)]n.入侵者
(6) oust[aJst]vt.剥夺, 取代, 驱逐
(7) consolidate[kEn5sRlIdeIt]v.巩固
(8) tactical[5tAktIk(E)l]adj.战术的
(9) advantageous[AdvEn5teIdVEs]adj.有利的
(10) deflect[dI5flekt]v.(使)偏斜, (使)偏转
(11) bribery[`braIbErI ]n.行贿, 受贿, 贿赂
(12) coalition[kEJE5lIF(E)n]n.合并, 接合, 联合
(13) multilateral[mQltI5lAtEr(E)l]adj.多边的, 多国的
(14) bilateral[baI5lAtErEl]adj.有两面的, 双边的
(15) creditor[5kredItE(r)]n.债权人
(16) regime[reI5Vi:m]n.政体, 政权, 政权制度
(17) legitimacy[lI`dVItImEsI]n.合法(性), 正统(性), 正确(性), 合理(性)
(18) rhetoric[5retErIk]adj.花言巧语的
(19) tenable[5tenEb(E)l]adj.可维持的
(20) humiliate[hju:5mIlIeIt]v.羞辱, 使丢脸, 耻辱
(21) showcase[5FEJkeIs]n.显示优点的东西
(22) constituency[kEn5stItjJEnsI]n.(选区的)选民, 支持者, 赞助者
(23) tangible[5tAndVIb(E)l]adj.切实的
(24) chant[5tFB:nt]n.吟唱
(25) substantive[5sQbstEntIv]adj.独立存在的, 真实的, 有实质的
(26) breakthrough[5breIkWru:]n.突破
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