The 8 October 2005 earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale had its epicentre 100 km north of Islamabad. The worst affected areas are in PoK, where the death toll has crossed 50,000 as on 21 October. The perennially bickering sub-continental neighbours seem to have come together at this time of grief and catastrophe. There is hope that the two countries would convert this massive calamity into a rare opportunity to build new bridges and take the ongoing Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) to a deeper level.

However, certain questions need to be posed at this juncture. Are the relief efforts being complicated by 'politics' of the two countries? Is it still difficult to bring together the two armies divided by generations of distrust? What is the role of civil society? And, is there any possibility of the two countries giving a fillip to the peace process?

Islamabad initially maintained that, there was no "possibility" of joint relief and rescue operations with India. Even though Gen Musharaff admitted that the government could not do much in the affected areas during the first 48 hours of the disaster as Pakistan did not have enough helicopters capable of lifting relief supplies, it still took time to assess the 'sensitiveness' involved in India's aid offer. It is willing to accept offers in certain 'forms' and 'formats' even at this point. India is ready to help taking into account Islamabad's 'sensitivities'. Some experts rightly comment that in spite of some improvements in diplomatic relations over the past few years, it is still hard to change mindsets even in an emergency.

But, both sides are not exactly missing on many opportunities. Pakistan has not completely turned down India's offer of aid. In some recent developments, after 15 years, telephone calls resumed between the two Kashmirs. Recently, Musharaff wanted to take this earthquake as a "lifetime opportunity" for solving the Kashmir "dispute" by giving self-government to the people in the region. The All-Party Hurriyat Conference leader, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had also urged the Indian government to open up all the seven road links on the two sides of divided Kashmir, which includes Kargil-Skardu, Uri-Muzaffarabad, and Tangdar-Tithwal, Poonch-Rawalakot, Jammu-Sialkot roads, and roads in the Naushera sector. India has welcomed the move to open the LoC, but it wants to wait for the formal proposals. India is yet to work seriously on travel documents and other details with the ministries of home and foreign affairs. India needs to adopt a very realistic approach on such issues or else things might get complicated.

Militarily, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has for the first time since the 1971 war extended relief work to Pakistan. The IAF's Ilyushin-76 aircraft loaded with 15,000 blankets, 50 tents, plastic sheets, mattresses, food items and a variety of medicines and medical supplies landed at the airport in Islamabad. An Indian Air Force IL-76 aircraft, carrying 25 tonnes of relief material landed in Islamabad. The Pakistani soldiers belonging to 10 Corps guarding the Amman Setu (Peace Bridge) in PoK sought the help of Indian soldiers of the Dogra Regiment guarding the Kaman Post to reconstruct their bunker. This is noteworthy because it is the first act of coordination between Indian and Pakistani troops along the LoC. However, Pakistan is still not ready to accept Indian helicopters with military personnel to reach out to the quake-hit areas. India has now decided to divert the focus from emergency relief to aiding the people in the remote and outreach areas. This is a moment of reckoning for both Indian and of Pakistani armies owing to its bitter past experiences.

Besides the army, Indian civil society has also shown tremendous response. The industry associations have pledged to provide Rs 25 crores assistance and individual business leaders are extending a helping hand. Software giant Infosys Technologies has contributed Rs 1 crore, the Federation of Indian Export Organisations and the Handicraft Export Promotion Council have donated Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 25 lakhs respectively. ITC and Mukesh Ambani have donated Rs 1 crore each, Anil Ambani has donated one lakh blankets, Rahul Bajaj has donated Rs 50 lakhs, Gujarat Ambuja and Ashok Leyland have donated Rs 25 lakhs each and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee made a personal contribution of Rs 25,000 to the PM's National Relief Fund. Besides, many non-governmental organisations are contributing for the cause.

The devastating earthquake has posed various questions in the minds of the people who hoped that it would open yet another opportunity to cement the Indo-Pak ties and fillip the peace process. Nevertheless, it is perhaps too early to expect how far both the countries would drop their mutual reservations!