Sunday, April 17 2005 18:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: President A P J Abdul Kalam today (Apr 17, 2005) asked his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf to place all the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in an incubator or a goodwill basket and see the eggs nurture.

"It is essential for India and Pakistan to place all their acts (CBMs) in one incubator or good basket and then watch the eggs nurture in this basket of goodwill and also see that no one kicks it over," the President was quoted as saying by his spokesman S M Khan.

"We should harness or direct all our energy to nurture this goodwill and no third party should be allowed to enter and damage it," Kalam said, during a lunch hosted by him for Musharraf and his wife Sehba.

Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among dignitaries who attended the lunch.

The President, during his talks with Musharraf, recalled his interaction with school children of Pakistan as well as the people from other walks of life including politicians and said that every student of Pakistan has a desire to live in a happy, healthy and a prosperous country and the similar desire was that "of the children of our country."

The event could not have gone without a lecture from the teacher in Kalam who had placed a huge display screen linked to his computer through which he told Musharraf about his scheme of Providing Urban amenities in Rural Areas (PURA).

The Pakistan President also gave a patient hearing to understand the PURA scheme and said that his country could learn from his experience.

For his side, Musharraf said about the empowerment of local self Government units in Pakistan.

The President also told Musharraf, "We have missed the industrial revolution, as our kingdoms were fighting with each other and Britishers were ruling us. But now the time has come that we should not miss the industrial revolution that is taking place around the world and work to accelerate that by maintaining peace."

The meeting between the two sides was held in a very cordial manner, the spokesman said that and both sides agreed that peace was necessary.

During the lunch, Pakistan President relished the Hyderabadi biryani, kebab's, Kashmiri Chaman (Cheese), Dal Bukhara and some chicken preparations besides savouring idlis.

Peace - the theme in music too

Peace was not only the dominant theme during the luncheon meeting President A P J Abdul Kalam had with his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf but it also reflected in the music played on the occasion.

The military band played the famous song " ...mit gayi dooriyan...." from 'Veer-Zaara', a recent Bollywood hit when the President met Musharraf.

The moment would have been a sense of pride for Yash Chopra, producer of the film and Rani Mukherjee, who had played a key role in the film. Both of them were present at the lunch.

The band also played old Bollywood hits "pyar hua ikrar hua ..." and "choo kar mere mun ko....".

The music was not only limited to Bollywood and some western numbers with the friendship theme, including the famous Beatles song "I want to hold your hand" and "Time to remember...", were played on the occasion.