Atal Bihari Vajpayee's third and final attempt, to use his own words, to achieve peace with Pakistan appears to be succeeding. When he made his first attempt by journeying to Lahore, he called it a ‘defining moment' in history.

Now, the saboteur of that initiative, Pervez Musharraf, believes that history is being made as India and Pakistan decide to resume their interrupted dialogue.

A resumption of talks is not usually hyped up in such a manner, especially by a military man. But, perhaps, the Pakistani president and army chief has learnt a lesson both from his Kargil misadventure and the recent attacks on his life in his own country. Kargil taught him that Kashmir could not be acquired either by a proxy war or a real war or a combination of the two, while the targeting of his motorcade showed him that terrorism can boomerang on his own self and country.

But if General Musharraf is a wiser (though not necessarily sadder) man today, Mr Vajpayee has proved the old adage: if at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again. After his first try in Lahore, Mr Vajpayee tried again in Agra, realising that India couldn't choose who led Pakistan at any particular point of time. When that endeavour, too, failed because Pakistan couldn't forgo the temptation of using terrorism as an instrument of its Kashmir policy, Mr Vajpayee made his celebrated observation of making a third and final attempt.

This time, his chances of success are much better. There are two reasons for this. One is General Musharraf's realisation that the fire of terrorism can singe oneself, and the other is the groundswell of public opinion in both countries in favour of peace. This second factor is crucial because even as acts of terrorism may not taper off immediately, the pressure of public opinion is bound to propel the two leaders towards a settlement. But even as India and Pakistan try to bury their acrimonious past, a major credit for this remarkable turnaround has to go to Mr Vajpayee. He has confirmed an old belief that the best chances of peace are provided by a far-sighted BJP leader in India and a responsive military man in Pakistan.