It took a long time coming, but the initiatives taken by the two media giants on either side of the Wagah reflects what people of both the countries desperately yearn for, and the answer is simple: They want nothing but Peace!

What is it that the 60 years of bloodshed, hatred and warfare has given us except for the ever increasing foreign debts and military budgets? The time has now come for making a new beginning. The beginning of such a trail is needed where tolerance prevails and peace and harmony become the order of the day.

There are various paths these two countries can adopt to mould their dreams into realities, and one such harmonising path is of Sports.

Nelson Mandela once said, "Sports has a power to change everything," and I, for one, believe in what he said. In fact, the next step in bringing harmony and peace between the two lands should be the promotion of love and understanding through fields such as Sports, and Cricket in particular.

Considering the passion these two nations have for sports, there cannot be a better platform for the promotion of the idea "Aman ki asha." And to gain momentum, the idea needs expression; it needs a language! A language that is associated not with any land, but with peace, and this is what sports is, "Aman ki bhaasha – a language of peace".

Nabeel Naqvi

I don't want to sound pessimistic, but I have actually lost 'trust' in such endeavours for building bridges between the two countries. Why? Because every time when something of this sort is undertaken, it is usually jeopardised by the lack of sincerity on both the sides. Secondly, there is the Kashmir issue, which, until resolved, won't let these efforts go far. I personally think that both the countries should seriously 'talk' about this issue (and I highly doubt they would do that, given the historical context of the Indo-Pak relations) which is of extreme importance to not only the people of India and Pakistan but also to the people of Kashmir.

Naeema Akram

In my opinion this tremendous ordeal of bridging the gap cannot be accomplished by the mere pomp and show of the campaign. I think extremism is a major obstacle in the prevalence of the desired "Aman". Certain incidences in previous few days, highly reflected extremism in thoughts and actions of eminent political figures in India. These assaults were an atrocious demoralisation of sportsman spirit and they also crippled the right of religious freedom of individuals. Personally, I feel that we are in a dire need of educating such pessimists by condemning the malicious germ of discrimination lurking in their minds. Any cast or creed based harassment should not be endured, but tackled with an iron hand. Yes, a goal-oriented and purposeful dialogue between representatives of the two countries can prove helpful in "trust building" in the long run. As Milton put it:

Peace hath her victories

No less renowned than war.