THE prime ministers of India and Pakistan have agreed to break the logjam in bilateral relations. Nothing was conclusive; and Mr Yousuf Raza Gilani’s word that Pakistan would not allow terrorists to use its soil was sheer rhetoric.

The only achievement of the ‘walk the talk’ at Thimpu was that both the leaders agreed to “think afresh” on the way forward and find the way for a substantive dialogue. Keeping in view the distrust and hatred that have crept into the bilateral relations of the two countries this is the best mechanism to bring them closer. Dialogue is key to resolving a crisis and restoring peace, and we have continued with a dialogue for far too long which was devoid of any concrete results and improvement. During the last seven years the Pakistani leaders and establishment have not taken any initiative for dismantling terrorist training centres and secret cells in spite of their full awareness of the fact that action against Islamic terrorists was key to resumption of dialogue. This time however Mr Gilani assured Dr Singh that Pakistan was “serious” about combating terrorism, and “all efforts” were under way to bring the trial to a “speedy conclusion”.
Let us hope that Mr Gilani who has a strong relation and understanding with the Pakistani military than the President, Mr Asif Ali Zardari will be able to deliver better on the 26/11 trial process. There is no need to remind Mr Gilani that his fight against terrorism was in the greater interest of his own country than India. Terrorism has ruined Pakistan and if he fails to strike at them conclusively there is little doubt that they would split the country. Mr Gilani’s praise for Dr Singh– “He has his heart in the right place. He is a well-meaning man. He is an academic. He is a visionary. He wants to move on”–should hopefully mean what he says, because that would help generate a good atmosphere for dialogue inside Pakistan.
By giving the green signal to the foreign ministers and foreign secretaries to meet, there is no doubt that Dr Singh has raised the dialogue process to a political level as Islamabad desired. Now the onus is on Mr Gilani to reciprocate and set composite dialogue in motion. That both the leaders would be meeting in Thimpu was a known secret but the leaders of SAARC nations should be credited for forcing them to do some soul searching in the interest of peace in the sub-continent. During the last decade SAARC has suffered enormously, and apprehensions were also being expressed of its turning defunct soon. Let us give Mr Gilani some more time to make a fresh beginning. He ought to realise that Pakistan-based terrorism was not only harming the socio-economic development and growth of the two countries but it was also jeopardising the growth and progress of the entire sub-continent. Sooner he acts against the terror machine the better it would be for the two countries and the people of south Asia.