The leaders of India and Pakistan shook hands again, this time in Yekaterinburg on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. As in 2004 when their predecessors’ encounter at the Saarc summit in Kathmandu had launched the composite dialogue between their two countries, the meeting between President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to revive the moribund peace process. Four rounds of the dialogue had been held until last year. But the Mumbai terrorist attacks last November stalled the exercise.

It is therefore a happy development that New Delhi and Islamabad have decided to reopen communications and discuss issues at the negotiating table. The foreign secretaries will meet before the NAM summit, scheduled in July, where Mr Zardari and Mr Manmohan Singh will review the prospects for talks. These meetings might appear to be more procedural in nature. Nevertheless they will be important as they will set the tone of the dialogue in the months to come. If they have a positive impact on the atmospherics of the talks these encounters would have been worth their while.

The only caveat is that this will entail further delays before the interlocutors begin to address substantive issues in earnest. The problem with setbacks such as the one caused by Mumbai is that they take the peace process back to square one that requires the two sides to start from the beginning. For instance at Yekaterinburg both the leaders took their time to reiterate their stated positions. India wants greater cooperation in good faith from Pakistan in investigating cases of terrorism against it. Pakistan expects the Kashmir dispute to be addressed as a result of this exercise. Both know that these objectives can be achieved only after a confidence-building exercise has created some measure of trust between them. To revive the dialogue after an impasse can be quite a challenge and invariably requires the friendly intervention of friends — the US on the present occasion.

When India and Pakistan meet again they would do well to focus on the key problem that threatens the peace and stability of South Asia i.e. terrorism which has grave implications for the future of both countries, given the fact that terrorists recognise no international boundaries in their operations. It is important that neither government provide any kind of sanctuary to terrorists operating against the other in the misplaced belief that this strategy promotes its political interest. It is time both realised that terrorism is a double-edged sword that also destroys its protector and patron. Hence the Saarc mechanism that has already been set up to investigate and fight terrorism must be activated and used effectively to the advantage of both.