Kashmir peace track holds

The Pakistani establishment also condemned the attacks, and the Indian government was quick to say that the attacks would not stall the peace process.

Indian officials who were negotiating in Islamabad before the bombings reportedly broke talks to consult Delhi when the news came. The Indian delegates then returned to the table, and struck a deal in the early morning hours with their Pakistani counterparts to open the Line of Control (LoC) at five points.

The deal is designed to reunite families and help relief supplies reach survivors left homeless by the devastating earthquake that struck earlier this month. The disaster, which killed an estimated 80,000 and left some 3.3 million people homeless, has already led to greater cooperation in Kashmir, long a battlefield. First, there was tacit cooperation between military forces along the LoC. Then Pakistan accepted India's offer to help with relief. Telephone lines between the two sides of Kashmir, too, were restored.

Muzaffar Baig, who will soon take over as the deputy chief minister in India's Jammu and Kashmir state, hails the opening of the LoC as a stepping stone for a united Kashmir without borders.

"For the first time, people and not territories were the focus of Indo-Pak negotiations," he said in a phone call from Srinagar. "It will not only help with relief, but be a foundation to unite Kashmiris on both sides of the LoC. It's a step that guarantees peace."

Pant, however, expresses skepticism that peace is guaranteed. Although he agrees opening up the LoC is a huge step for Kashmiri civilians, it will not cause terrorism in the valley to ebb. "The LoC has always been porous for jihadi outfits," he says. "We're opening up what is already open to extremists."

The Jihad Council, a collection of groups fighting to wrest Kashmir from India, had promised a cease-fire right after the earthquake. However, the violence has continued. On Oct. 18, the education minister in India's Jammu and Kashmir state was assassinated by terrorists who stormed his residence in Srinagar. The ongoing attacks, including this weekend's bombings, suggest concern among militant groups that the earthquake could further peace.

So far, the attack in Delhi appears to have failed to whip ordinary Indians into an anti-Pakistan frenzy.

Ramesh Mehta owns a shop near one of the Delhi blasts. The attack shattered his showroom windows and killed a close friend of his.

Despite the enormous loss, Delhi isn't ready, Mr. Mehta says spiritedly, to let Diwali, the festival of light, be enveloped by gloom. Most of the shops in Sarojini Nagar had decided to resume business by noon, a day after the blasts. "The terrorists want us to be scared. That's their only motive," he says. "We won't let that happen."

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