India, Pakistan break the ice, but chill remains
India and Pakistan's first official talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks moved relations out of the diplomatic deep freeze, but left both sides at loggerheads on how to take the dialogue forward.
Expectations had been low even before Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao sat down with her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir on Thursday, and their subsequent briefings made it clear that there had been little attempt to address any substantive issues.
The Indian side, aware that its offer of talks had been criticised in some quarters as a sign of weakness, stressed that the bulk of the meeting had consisted of pressing Islamabad to combat militancy.
Pakistan complained about India's "narrow focus" on terrorism and highlighted its attempt to bring the conversation around to other issues, including the long-running dispute over the divided region of Kashmir.
"New round, old story," was the front-page verdict of the Hindustan Times on the discussions that ended with vague promises to "remain in touch," despite Pakistan's desire for a return to a comprehensive peace dialogue.
Pakistani newspapers were even more dismissive and largely critical of India's refusal to resume a full dialogue.
"Meaningless talks end in meaningless way," said the English-language The Nation.
Washington, which was widely seen as playing a key role in bringing the two sides back together, put a positive spin on the outcome, describing it as an "important step" towards normalisation.
"We certainly hope that both countries will build on this dialogue in the weeks and months ahead," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
US encouragement is largely based on concerns that an unstable relationship with India will force Pakistan to divert resources from the fight with the Taliban on its border with Afghanistan.
Analysts also saw some cause for optimism, despite the absence of any framework for taking the talks forward.
"I think that under the circumstances, this is as positive an outcome as was possible. Though there was no breakthrough, there was no breakdown," said Indian analyst CU Bhaskar from the National Maritime Foundation think-tank.
While the discussions were little more than "statements of positions," they did at least have the merit of being made face-to-face, Bhaskar said.
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