Taking a Little Poetic License.(Atal Bihari Vajpayee)

Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an eloquent speaker with a poetic sensibility. And earlier this month, it was with a poet's sense for the spontaneous that an emotionally charged Vajpayee told the Indian Parliament that he was making a "third and final attempt" to make peace with archrival Pakistan. The goodwill gesture wasn't anticipated by politicians on either side of the border, as the two countries have been incommunicado since a December 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, allegedly by Pakistani militants, brought them to the brink of nuclear war. Although a senior Pakistani official admits that the prime minister's statement "caught us by surprise," Islamabad has been quick to offer reciprocal overtures of its own, and negotiations over Kashmir are now a possibility. Commenting on his skeptics at home, Vajpayee replies, "Some people say, 'This fellow is a poet.' But sometimes a poet can do what many others can't."

In reality, of course, Vajpayee's overture has as much to do with domestic politics as with his sense of drama. At 78, the elder statesman certainly has an eye on his legacy, which would be ensured if he brought peace to Kashmir. But his peace initiative will also--at least temporarily-- give him the upper hand against hard-liners within his own party, the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, who have offered little on Kashmir except occasional rumbles about preemptive strikes. It's an astute political gamble with four crucial state elections ...