Hit And Run
After two days of intense discussions and frenetic speculation, the Agra summit failed to reconcile the differences between the two countries. The inside story of what really happened. Were the two sides ever close to a settlement? What will be the consequences of a failed summit?

Gotcha!
That was the attitude of Pakistan's media managers who won the misinformation war against India.

Ominous Aftermath
The failure of the summit heralds more bloodshed in Kashmir. The average Kashmiri has much to fear.

A New Cleaner
UTI's new chief, M. Damodaran, is gearing up to restore its credibility and make it less of
a casino.

What's The Game?
Lack of planning may reduce the Rs 100-cr sports meet to a mere PR exercise.

FROM THE EDITOR IN CHIEF

This is our third consecutive cover story on Pakistan and the fourth in two months. This may seem yet another instance of a media overkill of the Agra Summit. Though that may be true,
it is also a fact that despite the blanket coverage of the summit
many basic questions remain unanswered, notwithstanding
the saturated coverage of the event by TV channels and the
print media. While there are mixed views on whether the summit was a failure or a starting point, there's greater suspense surrounding what India and Pakistan agreed and disagreed about. Was it Pakistan which retracted from an agreed draft of the joint statement or did the Indian leadership develop cold feet at the eleventh hour? And what was the text of the draft joint declaration?

What we have heard and read so far are inconclusive debates, based mostly on controlled information, speculation and many half-truths. The magnitude of media coverage of the event seems inversely proportional to the levels of clarity. Yet there are incontrovertible facts that blend with contested interpretations. It is important to dissect them. Not only because the people should know what transpired behind the closed doors, but also because the lessons of Agra will influence the future course of India-Pakistan relations. India Today sent a seven-member team, including two photographers, to Agra. They met President Pervez Musharraf, cabinet ministers, diplomats and foreign policy experts from both sides of the border-and, of course, Pakistani journalists who were a constant source of information. Says Editor Prabhu Chawla, who straddled print and TV coverage of the summit: "Some see it as the beginning of the end and some as the end of the beginning." Between the proverbial doves and hawks who are a feature of diplomacy, one hopes that the peace process survives the uncertainty of Agra.

(Aroon Purie)

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