India, Pakistan tone down vitriol

That same day, pro-Pakistani militants in the southern region of Jammu and Kashmir State killed four members of a village defense council, set up by the Indian army to fight militants. A separate group of militants, crossing into the Kashmiri town of Poonch, killed three Indian army soldiers in an encounter.

Since 1947, Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Jammu and Kashmir state.

To some extent, both India and Pakistan can walk away from the current crisis with their heads held high.

By threatening an all-out war with Pakistan, India has managed, after several repeated tries, to get the US to rap Pakistan's knuckles for its support of militant groups who engage in terrorism. And Pakistan has managed to draw international attention to the plight of the Kashmiris, the Muslim-majority residents of Jammu and Kashmir state, whom Pakistan says should be given the right to join Pakistan.

Yet there has been an unintended fruit to all this brinkmanship, say experts here. By pushing the threat of a nuclear exchange into the world's headlines, India and Pakistan have succeeded in gaining the world's attention.

But now, they may find it difficult to shake off any international attempts to solve the Kashmir dispute, which was the spark to Indian and Pakistani tensions in the first place.

Indeed, bilateralism may be the ultimate casualty of the current crisis, writes K.K. Katyal, a longtime columnist for The Hindu, a leading Indian newspaper. "It would be ridiculous for the two countries to be communicating with each other through Washington," he wrote.

In Pakistan, the mood among opinionmakers has turned markedly sour against the Musharraf regime. Liberal columnist Ayaz Amir, writing for the leading Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, wrote, "For an enduring peace between two hostile neighbors, there has to be an element of give and take. At the moment, given the weakness and bumbling of the military rulers, that element is missing. India wants all the take, while giving nothing in return."

K. Subramanyam, a consulting editor for the Times of India, says the greatest outcome of US involvement in the Kashmir crisis is that it now must act as a guarantor for Pakistan to abide by its promises. "In India, General Musharraf has no credibility, but today, the US is communicating to India on behalf of General Musharraf, and they are undertaking responsibility to ensure that he is going to abide by his word," says Mr. Subramanyam.

Now comes the waiting, as the Indians, Pakistanis, Americans, and British all come up with their own proposals for monitoring the levels of infiltration along the Line of Control. India, hoping to exclude any need for outside help – or interference – has offered to conduct "joint patrols" with Pakistan, perhaps including deployment of more unmanned spy planes. The US and Britain, meanwhile, are offering helicopter-borne international monitors and spy satellite technology to keep an eye on the border.

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