It is a good sign that Pakistan has handed over BSF jawan Satyasheel Yadav after having treated him most civilly in the two days since he washed up on the wrong side of the flooded Chenab near Sialkot. It is a positive message ahead of the August 25 meeting of the foreign secretaries. Managing India-Pakistan ties may bristle with difficulties but, as neighbours, both nations have to keep trying to put the past behind and find a middle ground driven by matters like trade in the immediate future. That could be a starting point, as businessmen from both sides who met in New Delhi recently may well testify. Whether Pakistan would ever be inclined to grant the India “most favoured nation” status or not, to get the goods moving beyond the negative list should be a priority.
Pending issues, such as the interminable 26/11 probe on the other side of the border and the freedom given to the disruptive ogres Pakistan has created in the likes of Hafiz Saeed, are unlikely to be sorted out quickly enough to make a great difference to the existing distrust. So long as Pakistan keeps harping on Kashmir despite the passage of a week short of 67 years since Partition, true normality is probably unachievable. Where the fresh round of talks can help is to ease some of the concerns now that Pakistan has shown a conciliatory approach notwithstanding the sniping on the International Border and the Line of Control. India has reason to believe Pakistan, too, will be mature enough to realise what true peace would mean.
