Two smouldering train carriages on Monday bore witness to the latest terrorist outrage intended to sabotage the three-year-old peace process between India and Pakistan. Coming a day before Pakistan’s foreign minister was due in New Delhi for a new round of peace talks, the midnight attack on the “friendship express”, which left at least 66 people dead, and dozens injured, appeared timed to forestall further movement towards a resolution of the core issue of the disputed state of Kashmir.

In recent weeks, as New Delhi and Islamabad have edged towards a potential political settlement of the most intractable of their 60 year old differences, militant groups have stepped up their activities. Terrorists have struck Pakistan in a spate of sectarian attacks, with suicide bombings at Islamabad’s airport and the city’s Marriott Hotel. Pakistan’s security forces last week arrested three militants suspected of planning to carry out suicide attacks in Karachi.