Pakistan Puts Out Feelers for Dialogue With India

Without getting ahead of themselves, rivals India and Pakistan are testing the waters for a revival of talks. On May 23, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeted his congratulations to his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on the latter's landslide victory in India's general election; Modi returned the favor, expressing his gratitude to Khan for the gesture. Three days later, the two leaders spoke by phone. Diplomatic niceties notwithstanding, Pakistan's army did test the Shaheen II medium-range ballistic missile on May 22 -- just a day before the announcement of India's election results. Without question, Pakistan's military conducted the test to communicate that India should not interpret Islamabad's overtures as a sign of weakness. And there was also a warning from the other side of the divide, as India's ambassador to the United States, Harsh Vardhan Shringla, said talks with Pakistan could not occur until the country ceased to use terrorism...