India and Pakistan are clearly aiming for a big breakthrough moment in their relations, one with the potential not just to overcome a difficulty in the existing model of conducting bilateral ties, but to change the model itself. That is as it should be. In today’s world, it is simply unsustainable for two neighbouring countries to limit their bilateral interaction to set parameters, in the way these two have done over the last six decades. For Pakistan, it had to be Kashmir first or nothing. New Delhi twice broke off talks with Islamabad, after the 2001 attack on Parliament, and then after the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, only to realise that it could not keep its head turned away from a neighbour indefinitely. The India-China model has been repeatedly invoked to demonstrate that two not-too-friendly countries could successfully interact in mutually beneficial ways. It does not imply that the contentious issues between them have vanished; rather, it means these issues can and should be resolved without foregoing the benefits of bilateral interaction. Given that the problems between India and Pakistan go beyond a dispute over a line on the map, the comparison with India-China relations may be too facile. Beyond the issue of Kashmir, elemental suspicion and mistrust plague India-Pakistan relations, and this now extends to what each is doing in Afghanistan. On the other hand, there is the advantage of a natural people-to-people bonding that has managed to thrive, despite the state-manufactured animosity and mistrust. As has been evident from the time of the 2010 Thimpu talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani, the spirit of which was reiterated in their upbeat meeting on the sidelines of the 17th SAARC summit in Maldives on Thursday, political will for a breakthrough is not lacking.
Pakistan’s decision to acknowledge India as a Most Favoured Nation under World Trade Organisation rules, despite opposition at home, was a game-changer. Both sides must swiftly build on this. Prime Minister Singh has talked of the two countries gradually moving towards a Preferential Trade Agreement, and of loosening up an egregiously retrogressive visa regime. The goodwill thus built — if these intentions bear fruit in forthcoming rounds of talks between officials of the two sides — is likely to have an impact on the process for the resolution of the major issues, including Kashmir. However, the reality is that terrorists retain the ability to disrupt relations between the two countries. This is why there can be no overstating the importance of Pakistan making an example of the Mumbai attack perpetrators by bringing them to justice quickly.