Pakistan's Kashmir irritant for India, but key is not to be irritated

Pakistan did deliver the Kashmir message during the meeting of the two foreign secretaries that was held in New Delhi a while ago. There should be a just solution to the Kashmir issue, Pakistan said in a statement released following the meet.

The statement on Kashmir could be interpreted in many ways. Pakistan has several times in the past tried to throw in an irritant during the talks which has always led to the process being derailed. This time around both countries appear to be decided that they would do all it can to take the talks forward.

India must make the best of it:

The Kashmir issue will be discussed over and over again. The fact is that the Pakistan army will not permit anyone to speak with India unless the Kashmir issue is raised. While it is an irritant for India, this time around it looks as though the decision is not to get irritated.

The Kashmir issue has been raised over and over again in the past. However what the experts feel is that the Kashmir issue should not come in the way of other outstanding issues. There are various other issues such as cross border terror, trade and maintaining peace in the region. No matter what we should continue to talk with Pakistan and ensure that the other issues are resolved feels former Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, C D Sahay.

In addition to this there is also the important SAARC summit coming up in November. The summit takes place in Islamabad and both countries want the same to go on. The cancellation by one nation means the summit is called off and both India and Pakistan do not want to be accused by the other member nations of being responsible for this. The other member nations have often accused India and Pakistan of throwing a spanner in the wheel when it came to the SAARC summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did make a bold move by paying a surprise visit to Pakistan. It was criticised by many, but appreciated by an equal number of people too. It was a big step by the Prime Minister. The Pathankot attack did threaten to derail the entire process. Since then India and Pakistan have been back and forth. However today's talks do signal a certain amount of maturity with both countries indicating, " no matter what we need to talk."