After months of intense speculations, it has been confirmed that India and Pakistan are involved in backchannel talks to reduce tensions. According to reports, the United Arab Emirates has been playing key role in getting the top security officers of the two countries to talk. The talks have started yielding results with the situation improving significantly on the border. Indo-Pak talks have happened after India and China also agreed to mutual withdrawal of troops from the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh. The disengagement process has gone on smoothly even as Beijing, for the first time, acknowledged that four of its troopers were killed while another suffered suffered injuries in the brutal hand-to-hand clashes between the two armies in Galwan Valley last year. Be that as it may, the two countries have, for the time being it seems, shunned the animosities of the past year and have mutually agreed to deescalate the tensions. The process to disengage at the border was followed by talks between the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart. These talks are expected to set the tone for further disengagement along the contentious border between the two countries. One can only hope that sanity prevails and peace returns to our continent which has been ravaged by wars for decades, if not centuries. Being the super powers and responsible countries, India and China have much more to gain by political and economic cooperation with each other rather than waging wars which are in no one’s interest. The two countries have a history of flourishing civilisations and cultures and they can learn the art of mutual coexistence from each other. There is no doubt that China is much ahead of India in terms of the size of its economy and the political clouts it wields among the nation states. However, this puts more responsibility on Beijing’s shoulders to act maturely. The country’s economy may have grown exponentially but it does not confer the right to act aggressively with its neighbours. India has always believed in the policy of non-alignment. Since the time of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. New Delhi has been a friend of both the western powers and non-western powers. However, this policy should not be taken as a weakness. If threatened, New Delhi can strike back at the place and time of its choosing. Beijing needs to acknowledge this fact and accordingly reset its policy options. Aggression will not solve any problems. Mutual cooperation and respect for each other will go a long way in ensuring peace at the LAC.