Engaging Pakistan would reduce tension between the two countries, deflect international pressure on India to resume the dialogue, and ensure that Pakistan does not have an excuse to divert its troops from the Western border.

Cold Start is a good doctrine from India’s point of view, but one that could adversely impact strategic stability given since Pakistan’s nuclear strategy is premised on countering Indian conventional military superiority with a nuclear shield.

Even though the respective military exercise held by Pakistan and India are about handling of respective offensive reserves, the message that emerges is that their employment is best avoided.

Under the deal that was worked out in the back channel, the LoC would have remained a de facto and not a de jure border, something that would keep alive Pakistan's irredentist claims over Jammu and Kashmir.

Though the Indus Water Treaty apportions 80 per cent of the waters of the Indus River Basin to Pakistan and only 20 per cent to India, Pakistan is engaged in baseless allegations to inflame public opinion and project India as its number one threat.

The resumption of India-Pakistan dialogue is closely linked with US moves in Afghanistan in the context of Obama’s publicly declared intent to begin the process of US military withdrawal from Afghanistan from 2011.

Whether the media groups succeed in achieving their “Aman ki Asha” is yet to be seen. But if they can sustain their vigorous campaign, the desire for peace in the region may deepen further.

The IPL decision not to choose Pakistani players proved a windfall for South Block, which had failed to convey India’s displeasure and unhappiness to the Pakistan government through the usual diplomatic channels.