Hopes rise as adamant India and Pakistan climb down

New Delhi : Taking a step back is a great way to move forward. And both India and Pakistan have done the right thing in Bangkok. Away from the piercing eyes of hawkish media, top security advisors of the two countries met secretly and decided to put the stalled talks back on track. Not talking makes no sense. So, it is a good and modest beginning.What matters most is that both the countries have decided to do away with their rigid stand to get talks going. It has been a major diplomatic departure from their stated positions. New Delhi’s decision to engage with Islamabad is a major shift in its position as it wanted talks on terror only as a pre-condition from its earlier stated stand of no talks till its neighbour stopped terrorist activities in India. And so far, there is no firm commitment from Pakistan that it will not allow its soil to be used by terrorists against India. Right from the beginning, Pakistan was opposed to limit talks to terror only as it would have put it in a tight corner and wanted a broad-based dialogue. The fact that India has ceded too much ground in Bangkok to re-engage with Pakistan shows its desire to have normal and peaceful relations with its neighbours.What Ufa could not produce, the meeting in Bangkok offers a ray of hope. Ufa was bound to be a non-starter as desperate Nawaz Sharif caved in to India’s demand for terror-specific talks only between the National Security Advisors. This did not go down well with Pakistan’s powerful military establishment which did all it could to scuttle the talks. Hardly had Sharif returned to Islamabad from the Russian city of Ufa that the army stepped up border attacks leading to frequent exchanges of fire from both sides. Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence also increased infiltration bids and Pakistan-based militants carried out some of the most audacious attacks in Kashmir and Punjab.