Hyderabad, July 22 -- The picture of Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanging sweets on Wednesday for the occasion of Eid-ul-Adha at the Line of Control (LoC) sent two messages very clearly. One signaled the mutual desire for peace among the armies at the de-facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) between the two countries. The other amounted to rebuking hawks who are opposed to dialogue between Delhi and Islamabad. This offers a glimmer of hope that the frozen talks amongst the two neighbouring countries might resume if hawkish actors withdraw from their stated positions.

This exchange of sweets also holds extra significance because the two-way gesture was shown less than a month after Pakistan's National SecurityAdviser (NSA)...