Their potential for mutual destruction has escalated frightfully after their nuclearisation. A war between them now is essentially unwinnable. Today, millions of their civilians have become vulnerable to a nuclear catastrophe against which there is no defence. Such hostility will only worsen-unless the impasse is broken. But no less pressing is domestic politics in both countries into which their strategic rivalry ineluctably feeds.
Mutual hostility validates communal politics in both societies.
A Pakistan at peace with India, and not helping the Kashmir militancy, would blunt the edge of Hindutva's appeal. The forces of prejudice, distrust and rivalry would lose their vicious edge. That's why the reconciliation process must begin. It maintains close ties with the Burmese junta and the King of Bhutan. Even the progressive community in Pakistan is divided in its attitude to Gen Musharraf.