How soon has Geeta, a deaf and dumb girl, disappeared from newspaper columns and television networks is not surprising. It only shows the depth of hostility between India and Pakistan. Islamabad did make a gesture by returning her. India should have reciprocated more positively and tangibly. Instead, the response was tepid. The media in both the countries dropped the topic quickly as if it was something which should be shunned.

In any other country, such a step would have been analysed and re-analysed to highlight the positive side. Even limited rapprochement between America and Cuba would have been exploited as an opportunity to settle their problems. But the crust of hostility between India and Pakistan could not be broken despite Geeta’s return after more than a decade.