For years, any diplomatic-level talks between India and Pakistan were described as the dialogue of the deaf. It was always safer to be cynical than optimistic about the outcome of such encounters. India's ties with the US are often described as a roller-coaster ride; with Pakistan, the country's relations had assumed a saw-toothed shape especially in recent times. There would be euphoria surrounding summits, as in Lahore and Agra, followed by a sharp drop in affections and ties hitting rock bottom soon after. The countries would then either go to war or mass their troops eyeball to eyeball along the border.

CROSS-BORDER TALKS: DIPLOMATIC DIVIDE By Dr Humayun Khan and G. Parthasarathy Roli; Price: Rs 225; Pages: 138

In the 57 years of a tortuous relationship, the air of mutual distrust and suspicion has hardly been dispelled whenever the two countries have met. Officials on both sides usually play a game of one-upmanship, leading the talks to be derailed even before they have begun. Only at the recent SAARC summit was the acrimony suppressed and the two sides worked towards a constructive dialogue that saw a roadmap for the talks being charted out.

So Diplomatic Divide, a series kicked off by Roli Books on the cross-border talks between the two countries, is extremely relevant as the two sides engage with each other once again. The book is essentially in the nature of the reminiscences of two distinguished diplomats who have served as high commissioners to India and Pakistan at different periods. Therein lies the strength of the book as well as its drawback. Both Dr Humayun Khan, who was Pakistan's high commissioner to India in the mid-1980s, and G. Parthasarathy, India's high commissioner to Pakistan in the late-1990s, served during critical periods of relations between the two countries.

TALKING HEADS: Vajpayee (left and Musharraf are back to bondling

Their narration of unfolding events makes for fascinating reading. These include tidbits like the late Pakistan President General Zia-ul Haq being thrown off balance whenever a young woman with a plunging neckline leaned forward to speak to him during his 1987 visit to India for his famed cricket diplomacy. Or Begum Nusrat Bhutto telling Parthasarathy to observe Zia's eyes when he smiled and then remarking that they were as cold as those of a cobra.

Khan also provides some valuable insights into Operation Brasstacks that reveal the fragility of relations and how rapidly the tensions could escalate between the two countries. On the other hand, the account of Parthasarathy, who writes with engaging candour, on the negotiations with the Taliban during the IC 814 hijacking, sheds new light on the unseemly episode.

The big drawback is that neither of the two is willing to go too far. So despite their rich experience, both fail to give pointers or throw up out-of-the-box ideas on how negotiations between the two countries should proceed or could help bolster the ongoing dialogue. The relations between the two countries are once again at a critical crossroads and any good advice on ways out of the imbroglio would be welcome. History is a good teacher. But as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said at the recent SAARC summit, the countries need not be shackled by it.