Modi's gesture.

It was refreshing to hear that India wants normal relations with Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's utterance, on the eve of the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, that his country wants 'normal and neighbourly relations' with Pakistan must have raised many eyebrows in India itself. While Pakistan has always endorsed meaningful relations with its eastern neighbour, it is India that has a spanner in the works of a dialogue. Composite dialogues are a mantra of the past, and now Delhi is even irked with a public handshake as exhibited during Foreign Minister Bilawal Zardari's debut visit to Goa on the sidelines of SCO conference. This speaks of the Indian animosity with Pakistan, and the fact that it feels off the hook by avoiding talks over Kashmir, by playing the bogey of cross-border terrorism.

The onus is on India to create conducive environment for talks which should be unconditional in essence. It's high time for India to realise that it has been shying away from an exposure with Pakistan, which is costing dearly on regional peace and security. While human rights excesses in the occupied Kashmir is a foregone conclusion, the BJP...