Confusion surrounds the attack on the Indian Pathankot airbase, as the operation enters the fourth day, with Indian security officials claiming that combing the airbase and the surrounding areas will continue until they are absolutely certain that none of the attackers are left. Added to this, the 25-hour siege laid at the Indian Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan finally came to an end late Monday night. Two attacks, one right next to the Pakistani border, and the other in Afghanistan where Pakistan has long been accused of using militants to further its strategic depth policy, could potentially put a dent in the talks process unless both countries proceed very cautiously.

The Indian government has pointed the finger towards Jaish-e-Muhummad as the group behind the Pathankot attack, but the United Jihad Council (UJC), an alliance of Kashmiri militant groups has also claimed responsibility which puts doubt in the evidence gathered from the investigation so far. The Pakistan government must do all it can to facilitate the Indian government’s hunt for the perpetrators of the attack.

Fortunately, it seems that this is the case after all as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called PM Modi to express his condolences and offered assistance in anyway required. Pakistan has been very wise with the way its relationship with India has been handled of late. Sparing the hawks on both sides, it seems that the Indian government too has no plans to scrap the talk’s process for now as those at the top have refrained from partaking in the usual hysteria. PM Modi has urged Pakistan to act, and act it must, not only in the interests of maintaining contact, but also to keep up its resolve to combat terrorism in its entirety.

Those on both sides of the border that want confrontation should do well to remember all that has been lost as result of this war. Pakistan has seen its share of attacks such as those on GHQ, PNS Mehran and Kamra that are in the same vein as the one on Pathankot base. Brazen attacks on both sides of Pakistan, and the porous borders that lie on either side are evidence of how not just one country, but the entire region is still menaced by the plague of terrorism. It is time that both countries turn the guns they have been pointing at each other towards the real enemy and act as one towards bringing stability to South Asia.