India and Pakistan, those two longstanding South Asia rivals, are currently making slow progress in a cautious but wide-ranging peace process initiated last April. It involves diplomatic and business meetings, cultural exchanges -- and a historic cricket series.  

Following a record-breaking match in Karachi on Saturday, the opening day of India's first full cricket tour of Pakistan in nearly 15 years, the signs look more optimistic than at perhaps any time in nearly four decades.

Contrary to the mob violence and mayhem that haunted previous encounters, there was something fresh this time around: Pakistani fans draped in the Indian flag; Indian fans celebrating among them.

Beside the stadium's concrete pavilion sat 200 Indian fans, the advance guard of around 10,000 Indians expected to visit Pakistan during their team's five-week tour.

This game is not just about cricket. The significance of such a move goes far beyond sports.

"I sensed this series would be different, but I never expected an Indian-Pakistan game with an atmosphere like this. There's such a feeling of friendship," marveled Imran Khan, Pakistan's greatest all-rounder and now a member of parliament. "It's as if we're saying war is no longer an option -- we need something new."

The weekend match came amid a series of positive peace initiatives in the thaw between the two neighbors, which earned widespread public support on both sides of the border and in the international community.

Last month they agreed to set a "basic roadmap" for peace talks, aimed at ending more than five decades of hostility.

The dialogue will culminate with a summit in August between the two nations' foreign ministers -- an encouraging breakthrough two years after the nuclear-armed adversaries stood on the brink of war.

Today, India and Pakistan share a political will that war is not a desirable option, and reconciliation via peaceful means is in the fundamental interests of both sides.

The latest peace move is but one step on a long journey. The difficult part -- the opening of meaningful dialogue -- is yet to come.

The two countries have gone to war three times since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, including two conflicts over Kashmir, which they both claim.

The unresolved issue of Kashmir, a Himalayan territory that's divided between them, has the potential to derail any peace initiative.

Despite promising to push ahead with the peace process on the basis of the framework agreed upon, India lashed out on Sunday at Pakistan, accusing its president of misinterpreting a statement jointly issued by both countries in Islamabad in January that made any reference to Jammu and Kashmir as a central or core issue.

The reality of the vast goodwill among the people of the two countries needs to be acknowledged and built upon.

In spite of all their former antagonistic rhetoric, both sides need to take a new shot at peace and ward off the pitfalls that undermined earlier attempts to bridge their differences.

It is imperative that both sides adopt a pragmatic approach and adjust their respective long-adhered policies on the Kashmir issue so as to find a common ground, which needs the insight and courage of the leadership in both countries.

(China Daily March 16, 2004)