The 8 October earthquake has given India and Pakistan a rare opportunity to forget their past, bitterness and forge a partnership of peace and development. Both countries should work together to rebuild Kashmir.

The quake has destroyed the political, economic and social fabric of PoK. Its political leadership has always acted as a puppet of Islamabad. Either militant organisations or sectarian outfits control PoK. Moreover, its administrative structure lies obliterated by the quake. Pakistan has neither the expertise nor the financial resources to deal with a tragedy of this magnitude. It is therefore very difficult for Pakistan to carry out rescue and relief operations. India has resources, including human resources, to deal with such situations and expertise in handling such tragedies.

Both countries should immediately have opened the Line of Control (LoC) for Pakistan let relief material to come through the LoC, the quickest access route; so that help could have reached in time. Unfortunately, Pakistan even in its hour of need, churlishly refused assistance from India, but turned to geographically distant friends. Pakistan accepted assistance from India only in the form of food, medicines and tents. India has recently offered $25 million in assistance to Pakistan for rebuilding houses, rehabilitating people and restoring essential services.

Pakistan's sensitivities were rooted in paranoid fears that accepting aid from India or launching joint relief efforts would indicate weaknesses. Moreover, President Musharraf would not have liked the Indian team to play the role of Angels of Mercy and that establish that New Delhi was able to provide PoK Kashmiris the required assistance at their time of need. For Pakistan's rulers, defending the nation's image was more important than saving the lives of its citizens trapped in the debris. Surprisingly, some army units paid more attention to restoring the country's front-line defences against India than to rescuing their citizens.

After days of negotiations between India and Pakistan, both countries have agreed to open five points along the LoC for people to cross and transport relief and construction materials to earthquake victims. The points to be opened for crossings are: Nauseri-Tithwal, Chakoti-Uri, Hazipir-Uri, Rawalakot-Poonch and Tattapani-Mendhar; and they would become operational from 7 November.

It was decided that for relief, rehabilitation and construction purposes, acceptance, relief items can be sent in either direction with prior permission and handed over to local authorities at these crossing points. The same parameters and procedures negotiated for the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus would also be followed here, designed mainly to reunite families and help relief supplies to reach the homeless survivors. However, no agreement could be reached on India's proposal to permit earthquake-affected people living close to LoC to avail facilities in relief camps.

The proposal for opening the LoC has not been easy to stomach in either India or Pakistan. Conservatives on both sides had insisted on the status quo. India is worried about the flow of terrorists across the LoC, while Pakistan does not want any uncontrolled access to occur. Proposing to open LoC at different places has probably been informed by President Musharraf's political compulsions since the Pakistan government had failed to expedite relief operations to adequately meet the needs of the Kashmiris. This could have turned into a political storm.

Opening of the LoC at five points is a positive development, but it is not a big deal unless both the governments chalk out short term and long term strategies. A joint task force could be formed consisting engineers, NGOs and medical teams with sufficient medicines to deal with the relief and rehabilitation work.

The long-term strategy has to be based on a different political calculus based on different possibilities like new highways linking the divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir, opening up old trade routes between Kashmir and neighbouring regions, easier travel across the LoC and a free trade area. But nothing can be achieved without the assent of President Musharraf.

This opening of the LoC will not lead to abatement of terrorism in the Valley. The recent actions by militants, who exhibited their ruthlessness and disinterest in the ongoing relief work, have resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians and security personnel who are providing relief to the Kashmiris. The Delhi blasts carried out by transnational extremists had been planned to derail the talks on opening of the LoC. The opening of the LoC is a good step forward as the earthquake has pushed India and Pakistan down a road they dared not tread earlier. Nevertheless, some bolder steps are required to rebuild Kashmir.