AS tragic as Wednesday's triple blasts in Mumbai were, no headway has as yet been made into identifying the perpetrators. What is welcome though is that the Indian government has ignored the knee-jerk reactions of some of the hawks in the opposition and the media who have pointed a finger of blame at Pakistan without evidence, and has decided to go ahead with the foreign ministers' talks scheduled later this month. In an atmosphere where terrorism has often derailed the peace process, it is a positive sign that India has risen above the blame game. The shift in the Indian policy was highlighted by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao who, speaking in a television interview earlier this month, said that Pakistan had 'altered' its stance on terrorism and that disengaging with Islamabad after the November 2008 Mumbai attacks had not been a productive course of action.

Following the earlier Mumbai attacks Pakistan-India relations had hit a new low as Pakistan-based militants were accused of masterminding the atrocity. It took a meeting between prime ministers Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh in the Bhutanese capital of Thimphu on the sidelines of a Saarc summit in April 2010 to melt the ice. Another positive step was the meeting in Mohali on the occasion of the Pakistan-India cricket World Cup semi-final in March. Talks between the interior secretaries, which took place around the same time, kept the momentum going while the foreign secretaries' meeting in Islamabad last month paved the way for the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting. However, the last time the foreign ministers met in Islamabad in July 2010, the meeting was far from successful.

The bottom line is that the peace process must continue. Neither government can afford to play into the hands of non-state actors. Meanwhile, if, for argument's sake, a link to Pakistan is established, it would be best to handle the matter at an official level rather than indulging in mudslinging or engaging in media diplomacy. A firm date for the meeting should be announced and it is hoped that bold decisions on 'less contentious' issues — such as Siachen and Sir Creek — are taken at the ministerial meeting in Delhi. This is also an excellent time to focus on a joint anti-terror mechanism.