The Congress’s sweep to victory has sparked fresh hope of repairing bridges between India and Pakistan, and Pakistan’s papers have prasied Dr Manmohan Singh’s moderate-construed-as-soft approach on Pakistan post 26/11. Daily Times, on May 18, said: “By the yardstick of an enraged Indian media, Mr Singh was ‘soft’ on Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks. But the fact is he has taken a moderate tone while being tough on the question of punishing those who were finally identified as ‘non-state actors’ from Pakistan. While post-election India will be in a better mood to pay heed to the international efforts to normalise relations with Pakistan — to begin with, lessen Indian military presence on the border — Pakistan may find itself challenged by Mr Singh’s insistence that Pakistan punish the Mumbai attack culprits... Pakistan will be under pressure to proceed against the terrorists it has acknowledged as being located on its soil even though its courts feel inclined to let them off. India will probably be willing to sign trade deals, but anything Pakistan wants from India will be put on the back burner till Pakistan delivers on the jihadis in addition to the Taliban.” Dawn, in its May 19 editorial, pointed out that: “Singh’s strengthened mandate frees his hand to better manage ties with Pakistan that have deteriorated since the Mumbai attacks. While there may not be any major peace moves, Singh could make a limited opening to Pakistan, now that he no longer needs to worry about a weakened Hindu nationalist opposition criticising him as being soft on India’s nuclear rival. These include dropping the travel advisory and reviving people-to people contacts that have been severely affected since the attacks. Singh will likely stop short of re-launching peace talks suspended since the raids, first focusing on bringing more international pressure on Islamabad to clamp down on militants.”

... contd.