India and Pakistan stepped back from the brink after days of fighting under what appears to be a ceasefire brokered by the United States. There has been an announcement, further, by Washington that the stage is set for talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral venue. This has not been denied by either New Delhi or Islamabad. The truce appears to be holding after some initial recalcitrance on the Pakistani side. Central to the de-escalation was the engagement of the US with the foreign ministers and national security advisors of both countries, leading to Pakistan’s Director General of Military Operations calling his Indian counterpart and a cessation of hostilities. Another round of discussions between the DGMOs on May 12 is on the cards, which should help bring about a framework of regular and reliable military-to-military contacts at the appropriate levels. It is unclear at the moment how the talks at the unspecified neutral venue will evolve and move towards more intractable topics that have been hitherto considered bilateral. President Trump’s announcement that he intends to get into the resolution of Kashmir has not yet been met with the resistance such suggestions evoke in New Delhi, where there is a political consensus that disfavours any third-party role.

It remains to be seen how much headway President Trump’s initiative will make. His other notable and widely publicised........

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