Do we have a deal?

摘要

They are small steps, but they turn In-dia around. This week India ended a five-month ban on Pakistani civil aircraft entering its airspace, withdrew its navy from waters near Pakistan and named, though did not send, an ambassador to Islamabad. A million Indian and Pakistani soldiers continue to menace each other across their common border, but for the first time since December, when Pakistan-based terrorists attacked its parliament, India is lowering the pitch of its fury. Donald Rumsfeld, the American defence secretary, who visited India and Pakistan this week as part of an international effort to head off war between nuclear powers, called India's measures "useful" but said that tensions remain high. The peace process, if it is to continue, must pass through two phases. The first deals mainly with procedure, the second with principle. Each has its pitfalls. If they are overcome, India and Pakistan might finally end the feud that began when they became independent in 1947.