The decision by the prime ministers of India and Pakistan to resume the stalled peace process is a significant breakthrough though the two sides will have to work quickly to address issues like Kashmir and terrorism to make real progress, local media said on Saturday.
Two days after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh agreed to resume dialogue during a meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in Bhutan, the Dawn newspaper hailed the decision as "the softest of breakthroughs."
Most dailies welcomed the decision in their editorials, saying it would help to end the impasse that has existed since the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, which were blamed by India on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
In an editorial titled 'Hope on the horizon', The News daily said a "year-and-a-half of bitter acrimony is finally over".
It added: "This expression of goodwill is of course welcome. Our region and its people desperately need peace. It can be created only if India and Pakistan can work towards the creation of a relationship that allows economic and social benefits to reach people."
The Dawn, in its editorial 'Soft breakthrough', noted that relations between the two countries since the Mumbai attacks had been so dismal "that even the vaguest of commitments should be applauded".
India and Pakistan should now focus on tackling their common problems, including terrorism, lack of socio-economic development and communal violence.
The News said: "But the biggest issue of all is that of terrorism. It is all very well for India to point fingers at Pakistan and blame it for what happened at Mumbai.
But things are not quite as simple as that."
The Mumbai attacks trial in India has "exposed some of the complexities" and there "can be no doubt that the terrorist threat is one that arises as much from India's realities as from those of Pakistan".
Both these issues will have to be tackled to stop bombings and killing, it added.
The "core issue of Kashmir is a factor in this", The News said.
"Now that the peace process is back on track there is an urgent need to speed up efforts and work towards a lasting settlement that cannot be disrupted even when bombers strike or other adverse events take place," it added.
The Daily Times, in its editorial 'Leaving Mumbai behind', too said Kashmir "should not be a taboo topic now as there has been a sharp decrease of militancy in the area."
PTI India said "must seek to resolve matters with the Kashmiris first before trilateral agreements can be reached. It is high time both nations start working on age-old problems," it said.
The Dawn cautioned that "talks about talks or desultory talks themselves will not be good enough" as a process that achieves "little or nothing is likely to quickly lead to disillusionment and a sense of yet another lost opportunity".
Future talks must be "focused and result-oriented".
It also sounded an optimistic note, saying "peace is not a chimera" as liberal, secular and genuinely elected governments were in place in India and Pakistan.
The Post, in its editorial "Progress at Thimphu", said progress in bilateral relations between India and Pakistan will augur well for the SAARC grouping, which "remains a paper tiger".
Both The Frontier Post and The Nation, however, took exception to the positive spin given to the talks in Bhutan by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
The Frontier Post, in its editorial, said it was "perturbed at is the patently spurious and untenable upbeat mood of Foreign Minister Qureshi".
Qureshi should exercise "caution and restraint in his public pronouncements about this Thimphu conclave" as he does not decide India's foreign policy, it said.
The Nation said the resumption of the dialogue "must not take place at the expense of national dignity and self-esteem".
It added that "Pakistan should not feel the need to pamper Indian sensibilities as much as it seems Mr Qureshi has been doing."
