INSTANT VIEW: India, Pakistan say dialogue best course
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at a summit in Egypt on Thursday and agreed that dialogue was the best way to repair relations strained since the November attacks in Mumbai.
Following are analysts' comments on the outcome of the meet:
ZAFFAR ABBAS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, PAKISTAN'S DAWN NEWSPAPER
"Nobody was expecting a major breakthrough. Nobody was expecting them to go beyond talking about talks but the very fact the two prime ministers sat down and agreed that it should only be through dialogue and acts of terrorism should not come in the way of their dialogue process is an achievement."
"It has been impediment in the dialogue process, so one should understand the Indian insistence on discussing terrorism and how to end it before the peace process can be taken forward."
"But in Sharm el-Sheikh, after insisting on the issue of terrorism, they have come down, agreed that the issue of terrorism should not stand in the way of dialogue process, which certainly shows the two leaders have realized how important the peace process is even if they want to combat terrorism."
MOHAMMAD MALICK , EDITOR OF PAKISTAN-BASED THE NEWS:
"The most important thing is de-linking terrorism from the composite dialogue. Now we will be able to move forward. It was a give and take, Pakistan has kept out mention of Kashmir, but has mentioned Baluchistan."
"Both sides can go home and claim they didn't cede anything and claim victory."
"It shows an agreement to move forward. Just the fact they sat in a room together for more than two hours is a move in the right direction. It exceeded my expectations. I am pleasantly surprised."
AYESHA SIDDIQA, INDEPENDENT PAKISTANI Defense ANALYST
"What was expected was that India would probably demand that terrorism should be the main focus. Now there are more avenues, so that they will have a discussion on terrorism and the composite dialogue as well."
UDAY BHASKAR, STRATEGIC AFFAIRS EXPERT
"It is no longer composite dialogue. India is now saying that we will engage with Pakistan on terrorism and Mumbai alone."
"What started as a composite dialogue in January 2004 will now focus on a single issue, which is terrorism and Mumbai... From the Indian point of view, I think the suggestion that we could go back to business as usual is not going to happen. So India has fought very hard to hold Pakistan's feet to the fire on the issue of terrorism."
HASAN ASKARI RIZVI, LAHORE-BASED INDEPENDENT ANALYST
"They have affirmed their faith in dialogue without making any commitment on the precise nature of dialogue which means it's open-ended and India will make its decision about dialogue when it is satisfied with Pakistan's performance of terrorism."
C. RAJA MOHAN, PROFESSOR OF SOUTH ASIA STUDIES, SINGAPORE'S
NANYANG TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY
"It's a good step forward and it's a way out of the impasse that the two sides found themselves in after Mumbai."
"What they've done in Sharm el-Sheikh is to reconstruct the core basis of understanding on which the peace process will progress. That is that Pakistan has given some explicit assurances that it would take steps to bring the Mumbai attackers to book.
"And the Indian side is saying that they will resume dialogue and talk about all issues, including Kashmir."
KULDIP NAYAR, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR
"The cold war seems to have ended and the relationship that was off the track is now back on the rails. It is a welcome development."
"They are at least talking, but both leaders have not said when they will restart the composite dialogue process, which is vital for peace in both countries."
D.H. PAI PANANDIKAR, PRESIDENT, RPG FOUNDATION, AN ECONOMIC
THINKTANK
"I think this can be the beginning of a resumption of dialogue between the two countries."
"The president of Pakistan has indicated that Islamabad itself has realized that its own government is not safe from terror and that realization may create an environment for better relations between the two countries."
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Bappa Majumdar in New Delhi and Kamran Haider in Islamabad; Editing by Bryson Hull and Nick Macfie)
