Behind Scenes

The Peace Summit organized here saw considerable headway made on contentious issues while a new ground was broken with the creation of a forum to promote regular interaction between the two leaders and eminent personalities of both countries. The agreement for setting up the forum with adequate funds was signed by both leaders in the presence of the peace negotiator who played a significant role in the proceedings.

The signing of the deal was done at an undisclosed meeting place away from public scrutiny. Well-informed sources who wish to remain anonymous reveal that there were last minute glitches and much bickering but the complications were quickly sorted out before it blew out of proportion. The two leaders and the negotiator later appeared in a public ceremony to announce the deal.

The public ceremony nearly ended before it began. Anonymous sources once again revealed that one of the leaders known to be a gourmet or gourmand had insisted on having the feast before the speeches contrary to protocol. The catering agency had been caught unprepared for such an emergency. The situation was quickly defused by a special peace platter offered by thoughtful officials present at the ceremony.

The two leaders initially stood far apart on the stage. Both sported the unsmiling bull-dog expressions for which they have become famous. International commentators there noted that the two men, once colleagues in the same Ivy League college in the West, now represent the new confident, independent and defiant face of the East. Both are charismatic and undisputed leaders of their societies polarized along religious, class and caste lines. They have galloped ahead in domestic popularity ratings gaining substantial approval with public posturing, rhetoric and subversive actions against each other.

The capable negotiator took the leaders by hand and brought them close together on stage. The two leaders with expressionless faces stood stiffly together behind the negotiator while she announced the details of the agreements. Five minutes into her speech, the two men were seen leaning towards each other whispering harshly behind cupped hands leading to much speculation amongst those gathered there. Sources close to the situation revealed that both leaders had jointly agreed, ‘What an ass!’