India-Pakistan relations are at a historic juncture. This new found warmth, more than mere ‘cold peace’ something that has traditionally characterised the relationship between the two countries has started manifesting in an urge to engage the other country with a positive frame of mind, explore the finer aspects of the other, and impelled an unprecedented popular momentum generated by the expectations of ordinary Indians and Pakistanis. The leadership in both India and Pakistan has not just accepted that they are willing to go beyond their stated positions, but have realised that the welfare of the other is essential to their own. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are also undergoing an attitudinal metamorphosis towards realism and the imperatives of peace, stability and prosperity.

Still, much remains unchanged. Mindsets, suspicion, terror tactics and political compulsions created by age-old ‘nationalist’ rhetoric remain potential wild cards in the ongoing process towards positive peace. Thus, much of the challenging journey still lies ahead.

This volume is an attempt to capture these diverse readings and views, analyse the prospects of peace and the potential wild cards, and present these before a discerning audience.