INSTANT VIEW - India and Pakistan say dialogue best course

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Pakistani counterpart Yousaf Raza Gilani at a summit in Egypt on Thursday and agreed that dialogue was the best way to repair relations strained since the November attacks in Mumbai.

Following are analysts' comments on the outcome of the meet:

ZAFFAR ABBAS, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, PAKISTAN'S DAWN NEWSPAPER

"Nobody was expecting a major breakthrough. Nobody was expecting them to go beyond talking about talks but the very fact the two prime ministers sat down and agreed that it should only be through dialogue and acts of terrorism should not come in the way of their dialogue process is an achievement."

"It has been impediment in the dialogue process, so one should understand the Indian insistence on discussing terrorism and how to end it before the peace process can be taken forward."

"But in Sharm el-Sheikh, after insisting on the issue of terrorism, they have come down, agreed that the issue of terrorism should not stand in the way of dialogue process, which certainly shows the two leaders have realised how important the peace process is even if they want to combat terrorism."

MOHAMMAD MALICK , EDITOR OF PAKISTAN-BASED THE NEWS:

"The most important thing is de-linking terrorism from the composite dialogue. Now we will be able to move forward. It was a give and take, Pakistan has kept out mention of Kashmir, but has mentioned Baluchistan."

"Both sides can go home and claim they didn't cede anything and claim victory."