Future dialogue vital

The failure of the leaders of India and Pakistan to bridge their differences and announce a breakthrough in their relations is disappointing, but not surprising.

As widely predicted, the two countries stumbled over their differing perceptions of the way to bring peace to Kashmir. General Pervez Musharraf and Atal Behari Vajpayee expended considerable personal and political energy in trying to reach an agreement. They met six times over two days, and General Musharraf delayed his departure by 10 hours in an effort to reach agreement. But in the end, the weight of more than five decades of bitterness and suspicion proved too heavy to lift.

It is important that both Mr. Vajpayee and General Musharraf do not let the momentum that has built in their relationship slow down. There will be pressures from hardliners on both sides not to keep talking. Both leaders must resist this. The price of not continuing to talk is not a return to the current uneasy state of neither war nor peace. It is the danger that armed clashes might once again break out, as they did in the Kargil area of Kashmir just two years ago.

On that occasion, the United States used its influence to persuade Pakistan to withdraw its troops, and urged both countries to talk to each other. Perhaps a few gentle nudges from the international community would help matters now.

-- South China Morning Post, Hong Kong