NEW DELHI, 4 July — Agra’s Jaypee Palace Hotel will be the venue of the summit between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on July 15, a senior official said yesterday.
Vajpayee will stay in the same hotel. Two other hotels have been short-listed for Musharraf’s stay — Mogul Sheraton of the ITC group and Amar Vilas of the Oberoi group, the official in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“Both (Sheraton and Amar) have excellent view of the Taj Mahal,” said the official who visited Agra over the weekend to see the facilities in the hotels there.
Every room in Amar Vilas provides a magnificent view of the Taj Mahal and two Pakistani officials who arrived here on Monday to see the logistical arrangements may decide on this hotel for Musharraf’s stay. They arrived in Agra yesterday.
“If he decides to stay at Amar Vilas, Mughal Sheraton will be the media center,” the official said. A large number of journalists are expected to come to Agra for the historic summit between the two countries
The summit is being held in the same hotel where Vajpayee will stay because the prime minister, who underwent a knee surgery on June 7, has been advised against “walking too much,” the official said.
“The summit venue is subject to Pakistan’s approval but we don’t see any problem,” he said.
Jaypee Palace, owned by the Jaiprakash group, has several conference rooms, where delegation-level talks can be held while the two leaders hold one-to-one-meetings.
Musharraf will take a break of 45 minutes from his summit with Vajpayee on July 15 to see the famous Taj Mahal.
“As per the program, Musharraf will arrive at the Taj Mahal at 4:00 p.m. and return to his hotel at 4.45 p.m.,” Agra Divisional Commissioner S.N. Jha said.
Musharraf, accompanied by his wife Begum Sehba, would also visit the famous Agra Fort as well as Fatehpur Sikri, the magnificent 16th century city built by Mogul Emperor Akbar.
Musharraf, who arrives in New Delhi on July 14, will spend the day in the capital, where he will stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan as guest of President K.R. Narayanan.
The Pakistani president will attend various official engagements before taking off for Agra next morning for the summit.
He will leave Agra at 3.45 p.m. on July 16 for Jaipur on way to Ajmer.
From Ajmer, he will return to Jaipur and emplane for home.
