ISLAMABAD -- The latest indications of an emerging peace process between India and Pakistan, South Asia's two nuclear armed neighbors, have momentarily brightened prospects for stability across the region.
The decision by India and Pakistan to exchange ambassadors -- who were withdrawn at the height of last year's intense military standoff -- and restore normal diplomatic ties has been followed by conciliatory statements from both countries' prime ministers.
But India and Pakistan also carry immense historical baggage, prompting skeptics to argue that what looks like an emerging peace process will probably fizzle out. In 1999, just months after Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the Indian prime minister, traveled to Lahore, Pakistan, the two countries became locked in a miniwar along the Kargil region of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan state claimed by both countries.