In a surprise move, Pakistan and Israel have announced that their foreign ministers met today in Istanbul. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf initiated the new dialog. While this is great news for Israel, there is much work to be done, and one must also consider the realities on the ground inside Pakistan.

Israel, of course, was most positive about the meeting, as it is the brunt of the vitriolic hatred of the Muslim (and non-Muslim) world. Any positive movement on diplomatic relations between Israel and a Muslim country is nothing short of miraculous in these days and times:

Israel's foreign minister described the talks, held in the Turkish city of Istanbul, as a "historic meeting". …

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Israel Radio: "We are talking about a tremendous significance, not just in regards to our relations with Pakistan, but the entire Muslim world."

Mr Shalom told reporters that he hoped the talks would lead to "a full diplomatic relationship with Pakistan as we would like it with all Muslim and Arab countries."

Pakistan was cooler in its public reaction to today’s talks, sporting the usual party line in almost unquestioning support of the Palestinians:

"This contact, the first at this level, is essentially a gesture to Israel to underscore the importance that we attach to the end of Israeli occupation of Gaza and the (West) Bank so that all occupied Palestinian territories are vacated leading to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security," Pakistan's Foreign Secretary told mediapersons at a press conference.

The Pakistani foreign ministry added that Jerusalem must be the capital of such a Palestinian state.

President Musharraf has made some bold moves during his leadership of Pakistan. He has cracked down on Islamists, and has survived at least 2 assassination attempts in turn. After all, he will be addressing the American Jewish Congress in New York next month. Could there be any other way for him to anger the Islamist savages?

While outsiders may see him as waffling in the war against Islamism, they might not fully consider the volcano he is sitting on. What a dangerous game it is to preside over a country with probably more Islamists than any in the world.

And Islamist reaction to his bold move vis-ŕ-vis Israel was immediate:

Meanwhile, the leader of the six-party alliance of Islamic parties in Pakistan told the BBC news website that the meeting went "against Pakistan's national interest as well as state policy."

Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), said "It goes against a policy that Pakistan has been pursuing from the very beginning."

Today’s decision by Pakistan was positive, but it is a long way from full recognition of Israel. The path between a single meeting and full diplomatic relations will be an Islamist minefield, but one that I believe Musharraf can navigate successfully.