'Meaningless talks end in meaningless way', screamed a headline in a Pakistani newspaper on the first officials' talks with India in 14 months, with the media saying that the dialogue had failed to end the freeze, and counselled Islamabad to refuse further such overtures.
But a section of the newspapers saw the talks as a good start, saying a meeting between two foreign secretaries should bring cheer to those seeking the normalisation of ties. Leading this line was the influential paper The Dawn, which said the key to the way forward was to devise a workable framework for the two sides to resolve their disputes as the present climate is no where close to achieving that goal.
Proclaiming that the Kashmir issue remains a core dispute, it said small beginnings should be embraced wholeheartedly.
It said the Pakistani concerns were over water and India's cold start military doctrine. Referring to the "blame game" indulged in by both sides, the editorial said India must realise that it cannot keep ties with Pakistan "hostage to incidents of terrorism".
At the same time, Pakistan "must realise that pretending it can be business as usual and as though recent incidents of serious violence ought to have no bearing on how ties between the two countries are affected must be discarded".
Both countries must realise that the "other remains a millstone around its neck: progress for either without peace with the other is not ultimately possible, and everything must be done to achieve it", The Dawn said in the editorial.
