Sanity Breaks Out

In any other year, India and Pakistan would be on the verge of war by now. Last week, Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir killed six Hindu pilgrims and eight Indian army officers, injured 60 more people and came within a grenade's throw of wiping out India's entire northern military command. With a Hindu nationalist government in New Delhi and an equally nationalistic general in power in Islamabad, such provocations would usually be sufficient to push the countries to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Instead, both sides have displayed remarkable self-restraint. Indian Deputy Prime Minister and Hindu hard-liner, Lal Krishna...