.. Between India and Pakistan, the sticking point will undoubtedly be the Kashmir problem ... Any substantial breakthrough appears impossible ... No politician on either side on the border will dare to suggest a formula which hints at resiling from the present position. Any such move will immediately be assailed as a sell-out, thereby ruining the electoral prospects of the person and his party. It has become virtually mandatory, therefore, for India to reiterate that there is no question of  converting the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir into an international border since this country does not recognise Pakistan's "illegal" occupation of a part of Kashmir. Similarly, Pakistan keeps harping on completing the unfinished task of partition ... by taking over the whole of Kashmir ... Any talks between India and Pakistan and Pakistan on this most crucial ... issue will be nothing more than a dialogue of the deaf ...

The nuclear tests have introduced a new sense of urgency in Indo-Pakistan relations and ... refocussed attention on Kashmir as a focal point ... perhaps it is time for New Delhi and Islamabad to break out of their mental straitjackets and be ready to place a more open agenda on the negotiating table. In the context ... no subject – not even a fresh look at the LoC - should be ruled out of hand. However, the first and foremost topic which has to be taken up before substantial negotiations can take place is that of the prolonged proxy war which Pakistan has been waging in Kashmir, along with the acts of terrorism elsewhere in India. Without question, these subversive acts perpetrated by mercenaries trained in Pakistan continue to be the major stumbling block ... Unless and until Islamabad puts an end to (this) it will be pointless to hold any discussions at all - whether about the LoC or of anything else. It is this point which Pakistan has to realise ... It is obvious that as long as terrorist acts continue ... no Indian government will be prepared to take the discussions to a more controversial level.