Pakistan is treated as a form of domestic policy in India in the same way as Israel is in US. If in the case of America, it is due to the power of the Israeli lobby, in India it has something to do with the bitter partition of the country, which led to the birth of the new nation of Pakistan. The Sangh Pariwar of which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the political arm was dead against the vivisection of the subcontinent. So the Congress party, which was in power most of the time after India won independence, had to tread cautiously while dealing with Pakistan lest it should be accused of being too soft on national security by the opposition BJP. Still it was a BJP prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, who took some major initiatives toward improving relations with India's western neighbor. But Vajpayee was a moderate unlike the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a hard-liner. Moreover, Vajpayee was heading a coalition government, which did not share BJP's visceral hatred for Pakistan. So everybody expected Indo-Pak relations to take a turn for the worse under Modi. The good news is this has not happened despite unabated ceasefire violations, from time to time, by one side or the other, along the Line of Control that divides the disputed Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir. And despite the slow but steady decline in his electoral appeal, Modi has not turned to virulent anti-Pak chauvinism to keep his flock together. More good news came last week with India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visiting Pakistan and both sides agreeing to resume the structured dialogue suspended seven years ago following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks blamed on Pakistani militants. Almost three years ago, the "resumed dialogue" was stalled following the killing by Pakistani troops of Indian soldiers, including one who was beheaded. Ms. Swaraj visited islamabad to attend the "Heart of Asia" conference on Afghanistan. Her meeting with Sharif was meant to be a "courtesy call" but ended up lasting well past an hour. Earlier, Modi had met Sharif in Paris on the sidelines of the Climate Conference on Nov. 30, paving the way to tackle the key challenges that are holding back talks between the two neighbors. After talks between Ms. Swaraj and Pakistani prime minister's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz, which lasted two hours, the two sides tasked foreign secretaries of the two countries with formulating a timetable for secretary-level talks on all the 10 issues that form the resurrected dialogue process. Talks will cover peaceful exchanges, people to people contacts and religious tourism. More important from India's point of view, Pakistan has given assurances on an "early completion of the Mumbai attacks trial", and "resolved to cooperate to eliminate" terrorism. Both in opposition and in government, the BJP has opposed any resumption of dialogue without "concrete action" by Pakistan on the Mumbai attacks where 160 people were killed in coordinated strikes by gunmen India says were from Pakistan. India has agreed to include Kashmir on the dialogue agenda. Given years of mutual mistrust and suspicion, it will be naive to expect dramatic results. The point not to be missed is both sides have signaled a readiness for a give-and-take approach. Modi will visit Islamabad next September to attend a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) conference. All those interested in peace in South Asia should hope that India and Pakistan will utilize the intervening period to build a strong foundation of renewed engagement. At the same time, the confidence-building measures already agreed to, on trade and visa liberalization, should be implemented at early as possible. Going ahead with those measures in which the common man has a stake is the way to defeat those on either side of the border who has a vested interest in keeping tensions high.
