India, Pakistan retreat into security of distrust

By Simon Cameron-Moore and Bappa Majumdar

ISLAMABAD/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The time-out called by India in its peace process with Pakistan gives the two countries a chance to salvage the gains of the past four years from the bitter aftermath of the militant attack on Mumbai.

Analysts say there was no way a Congress-led government, with voters baying for a retaliatory strike and an election due by May, could behave in Gandhian fashion by carrying on talks after militants from Pakistan killed 179 people in Mumbai.

India is well disposed toward the nine-month-old civilian government of President Asif Ali Zardari, but distrust of the Pakistani military has become more acute than when former army chief Pervez Musharraf was running the country.

Zardari's soft words over the Kashmir dispute and his stated preference for a no first use accord on nuclear weapons have gone down well with the Indian leadership.

"They are delighted that Zardari has gone the extra mile in the last few months," said Najam Sethi, a respected Lahore-based Pakistani political analyst and newspaper editor, after a visit to New Delhi.

"Their problem is that public opinion being what it is in the wake of Mumbai, I think a decision has been taken that there should be a pause until the next government comes in."

By declaring a "pause" on Tuesday, analysts say Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee had effectively asked the Pakistani leadership to choose what matters more to them: peace or protecting jihadis who want war.

Sethi believed both sides wanted to keep the so-called composite dialogue alive as it had been close to settling several territorial disputes before Musharraf's political troubles in 2007 caused both sides to go slow.