The editorial “Engagement must go forward” (July 17) is right in saying that a sustained engagement between India and Pakistan is possible only when both sides stop treating every episode as a make or break event. Both countries are quite vulnerable on the diplomatic front. They should dump their egos and start taking each other's grievances seriously and act on them.
Vaibhav Deshwal,
New Delhi
The apparent deadlock in the Foreign Minister-level talks is nothing new. In order to bridge the ‘trust deficit,' it is necessary to continue talking. There is nothing wrong in India agreeing to Pakistan's demand of integrated talks on all issues.
As the talks progress, India will have more opportunities of addressing its core concern of terrorism. The most important thing is to bring Pakistan's leadership to the negotiating table.
Gaurav Kumar,
New Delhi
With every dialogue, India becomes a victim of Pakistan's one-upmanship. While other issues can be addressed by dialogue, terrorism needs to be treated more seriously as it is no longer a bilateral issue. Pakistan is under an international obligation to fight terrorism but it continues to nurture terrorist groups. While India must continue to engage with Pakistan, it must take up the issue of terrorism at an international level.
M. M. Kotian,
Bangalore
There has been a series of engagements between India and Pakistan at various levels, in recent times. Though officials and political leaders visit Pakistan quite frequently for talks, nothing fruitful has emerged so far. India is harping on its pet theme that the terrorists who get patronage from Pakistan should be tackled first, for any progress to be made in the talks. But Pakistan is bent on raising Kashmir and related issues. Thus there is no meeting point. It is clear that neither country is sincere in its approach. It would be futile to continue talking in this manner.
G. Ramachandran,
Thiruvananthapuram
