Although strategic optimism about future relations with Pakistan and China has never been in fashion, recent developments do give hope. It is no secret that the negotiations with Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir have made considerable progress. The good news is not just that India and Pakistan are negotiating for the first time in decades on Jammu and Kashmir. Officials familiar with the process say India and Pakistan are talking about the same set of ideas for the resolution of the J&K problem. But they also underline that the two sides don’t yet have any agreed definitions of these ideas. Much of the current effort is about narrowing the differences between the concepts of ‘self-governance’ and ‘autonomy’, ‘joint management’ and ‘consultative mechanisms’ across the dividing line in J&K, and the nature of the relationship between as well as the sequence of steps leading to substantive reduction of Indian and Pakistani armed forces in the entire state of J&K and an end to violence.

Mukherjee’s brief in Islamabad was not about resolving these differences. It was focused on preventing a misreading of each other’s core assumptions on the peace process. It was also Mukherjee’s task to obtain political reassurances from the highest level in Islamabad that Pakistan is fully aware of India’s concerns over cross-border terrorism. Therefore getting the joint mechanism on terrorism off the ground was of some importance to Mukherjee.

The external affairs minister also emphasised the importance of implementing the earlier political understandings on resolving Siachen and Sir Creek disputes. Pakistan has offered a comprehensive package on Siachen during Mukherjee’s talks, and the survey of Sir Creek has begun this week. Together, they raise the hope that agreements that have been in sight for so long will be quickly clinched. Mukherjee also got assurances from the Pakistan President on the usually neglected humanitarian aspects of the relationship — such as finding and exchanging missing prisoners of war.

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