THERE is enough in the Pak-India joint declaration announced at the end of talks between the two PMs to allow both to claim they have made gains. India can maintain that it has succeeded in making Pakistan realize that terrorism is the main threat facing the two countries, and to concede that both need to jointly fight it. Further, that an undertaking has been extracted from Pakistan to bring to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks. Pakistan can claim that its position to de-link terrorism from dialogue has been vindicated and New Delhi has been finally made to realise the need to restart the composite dialogue unilaterally suspended by it after Mumbai attacks. While Kashmir was not mentioned specifically, Islamabad can argue that agreement by Dr Manmohan Singh to "discuss all issues with Pakistan, including all outstanding issues" was an implicit recognition that the core issue of Kashmir cannot be put aside and will have to be taken up during the promised composite dialogue. Pakistan can also claim it has succeeded in persuading India to discuss charges that New Delhi was helping terrorists in Balochistan and elsewhere. The statement however leaves enough room for India to manoeuvre. While the statement indicates India's readiness to restart the stalled dialogue, it proposes no firm date for the resumption of the process. The Foreign Secretaries are supposed to meet "as often as necessary". This has allowed Dr Manmohan Singh to undertake what is rightly being described as a volte face. Mindful of hostile reaction to the de-linking of terrorism from talks, he told the Indian journalists, soon after the announcement of the joint statement, that "a composite dialogue cannot begin unless and until the terrorist attacks that shook Mumbai are accounted for and the perpetrators of these heinous crimes brought to book." Further, that if acts of terrorism continue to be perpetrated there is no question of a dialogue, let alone a composite dialogue. There is mounting international pressure on both India and Pakistan to reduce tensions and initiate the suspended talks. Pakistan is being asked to proceed apace with bringing to justice what are considered to be the masterminds behind the Mumbai attacks while New Delhi is being advised to drop conditions for the revival of negotiations on all outstanding issues. There is a need on the part of the powers who are keen to put an end to the tensions prevailing in South Asia, to realise that unless the core issue of Kashmir is resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people and in line with the relevant UN resolutions, there is little hope of peace in the region. The ball lies in India's court. The flip-flop on the part of Dr Manmohan Singh does not bode well for peace in the region.