Domestic sentiment evidently weighed heavily with the government in the end. Even though the Ministry of External Affairs was decidedly reluctant to accept Pakistan's terms for the release of the soldiers, that is eventually the agreed basis for their return. The handover through the International Committee of the Red Cross implies the jawans were engaged in warlike activities.

India insists they were on a routine patrol when they got lost and should therefore be returned directly. There is an important distinction here, worth insisting upon. But what tends to happen between India and Pakistan is that differences continue unresolved for years together.

If they were only toinvolve mandarins in both capitals it would be tolerable. Unfortunately, it also results in soldiers and more often fishermen, who have strayed over a watery line, being held as prisoners for indefinite periods, sometimes years. When to stick to the principle of the thing and when to yield is obviously a matter of judgment.

In August as a gesture to the people of Pakistan on their independence day, India released eight Pakistani soldiers. With Ram Singh and Bajinder Singh, the humanitarian argument is said to have prevailed. In any case it was sensible to bring them home soon for they may provide clues to the whereabouts of the rest of the patrol. Generosity towards the other side and humanitarian acts are commendable whether or not they lead to improved behaviour on the other side or to reciprocal gestures. Nevertheless over the long haul what matters is developing procedures and mutual respect for them.

Both sides should stick to settled procedures. If the practice since 1995 has been that, outside war,captured soldiers are returned directly across the border, if it is agreed these exchanges are to be facilitated by the directors general of military operations, so be it. What has worked well enough before should be reinforced and worked again.

Relief about Ram Singh and Bajinder Singh will be mixed with concern about the others in the patrol from the 3rd Rajput regiment. Three jawans and an officer are still missing a fortnight after they crossed the border in error. Contact has not been made with Indian bases as yet and Pakistan has said it does not know where they are.

The uncertainty is worsened by the fact that the Turtuk sector, where the patrol was lost, is far from quiet just now. Artillery exchanges, heavier than usual, were reported from the sector for several days in the first week of September and a Pakistani ammunition dump is said to have been destroyed by retaliatory fire from the Indian side. Time is of the essence. The government must strain every nerve in the search for the soldiers whowent missing along this troubled border.