It may be a coincidence of birth, but the Indian prime minister and the Pakistani president are prime examples of how difficult it is for borders to divide the inextricable links between the South Asian rivals.
Both were born before the bloody partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 -- Indian premier Manmohan Singh on Sept. 26, 1932 in Gah, which is now in Pakistan, and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf on Aug. 11, 1943 in New Delhi, India.
On Sunday, Singh gave Musharraf a portrait of Neharwali Haveli, the Musharraf family's ancestral home in New Delhi, where the general spent his formative years.
Local woman Anaro Kashmiri, who was 12 when Musharraf was born and who was employed in his family home, remembers the president's four years in India fondly.
"He will always be my first child. He used to call me `Mummy.' He was a very sweet boy, not naughty at all," she said.
Kashmiri and Musharraf met in 2001, ahead of a summit with then premier Atal Behari Vajpayee.
"He hugged me and asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted the two countries to come together," she said.
At a banquet this weekend for his guest from across the border, Singh referred to the turbulent history of the two countries and the pangs of birth and separation.
"While I was born in what is now Pakistan, and you were born here, both of us have come to occupy these high offices in our countries," Singh said, reading softly from a prepared speech, occasionally bowing his trademark blue turban.
"Fate has placed on our shoulders the burden of a sacred responsibility," he continued. "Clearly, a lasting peace between India and Pakistan is essential to ensure a stable and prosperous South Asia."
The push for peace, contentious Kashmir, better trade and communication links were discussed during Musharraf's "informal" visit to watch cricket.
Sport and politics mingle curiously in this region, with bilateral cricket ties frozen after the Kargil conflict of 1999, when Pakistan-backed guerillas seized positions on the Indian side of the ceasefire Line of Control that divides Kashmir.
The Pakistan team is touring India after six years. Cricket diplomacy has eased tensions in the past when Pakistan president Zia-ul-Haq visited India in 1987 to watch the two teams play.
Haunted by the failed bilateral summit of 2001 in the northern Indian city of Agra, Musharraf landed in the northwestern desert state of Rajasthan as the humble pilgrim, hands folded and dressed in a starched white traditional Pathani suit.
"At Agra there was tension and acrimony. Now there is harmony and cordiality," he commented later.
At the dargah or tomb of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer city, he said a private prayer for peace and then emerged from the shrine in a resplendent pink-and-silver turban, raising both arms to restrain eager security personnel.
He turned to the cameras and stated grandly, "I have brought a message of peace from Pakistan. There can be no progress without peace. I hope my prayers are answered."
Hours later he arrived in New Delhi in a black suit and bright red tie to attend the banquet, where tables were named after rivers that flow through both countries. Unlike the understated Singh, the Pakistani leader made an apparently impromptu address, speaking eloquently without the use of prepared notes.
"Failure is no longer an option," Musharraf said. "I think in the 21st century, the period of conflict management is over. We have entered an area of conflict resolution."
If symbolism is anything to go by, the visit augurs well for India and Pakistan.
Both leaders used analogies of friendly hands reaching across decades of hatred, much like Vajpayee did on April 18, 2003, when he offered a "hand of friendship" to Pakistan.
"It needs two hands to clap. They say it takes two to tango. We may be too old to tango, but my hand is extended to clap," Musharraf told Singh.
However minor incidents serve to demonstrate how quickly fragile India-Pakistan relations can turn sour.
Musharraf's plane displayed the Indian flag upside down, sparking demands for an apology from Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party for hurting "the sentiments of millions of patriotic Indians."
"India's flag will always fly high and its honor will remain intact," the alarmed pilot said in an apology.
When India and Pakistan shake hands, conspiracy theories abound. The latest surrounds Musharraf's birth certificate, which Singh gave him on Sunday.
Many have since been asking how old the general actually is. His Web site has his date of birth as Aug. 1
Musharraf, who seized power after a 1999 coup, has made promises to step down but can't seem to make way for meaningful democracy.
There is no fixed retirement age for the general, but the certificate would make him two years younger, at least on paper.
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