The guns on the India-Pakistan border had barely fallen silent when the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the names of the Indian and Pakistani winners of the peace prize - a choice that has raised hopes of nudging the two neighbours to end their confrontation.
Heavy gunfire and mortar shelling rocked the international border that separates the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir over the past nine days, killing 19 people on either side, most of them civilians. It has been the worst violence between the neighbours since a 2003 ceasefire.
In awarding the prize to teen education advocate Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi of India, the committee reflected on the future of children in young countries such as India and Pakistan where most of the population is under 25 years.
“The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for education and against extremism,” the committee said.
“There could hardly be a better time for a Pakistani and an Indian to share the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize,” said Hussain Soherwardi, a political analyst who teaches at Peshawar University in north-western Pakistan.
He said the award is seldom free of “global politics” and there could be a message for the two South Asian countries to follow a path of peace. “The combination of Malala and Kailash could be an effort to tell their countries to move towards peace.”
A peace dialogue has been largely suspended since the 2008 terrorist attack in Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.
There were hopes that ties would improve when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, to his inauguration in May. But those soon soured.
In August, India cancelled talks after the Pakistani ambassador met Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi. The escalation of border skirmishes in the Himalayan region in the following weeks further deteriorated relations.
Geir Lundestad, non-voting secretary of the Nobel Committee, said the prize was primarily for ending violations against children, but it could have “some effect” on nudging the neighbours closer.
“If it can improve the relationship between India and Pakistan, however marginally, that would of course be appreciated. But we should not expect this prize to really have a major impact in that respect - I mean the Nobel Peace Prize is not a magic wand,” he said.
Malala joined Satyarthi in appealing for the political leaders of India and Pakistan to come together and be there in Norway in December when the peace prize is presented to them.
“We’ll try to build a strong relationships between India and Pakistan,” she said. “It’s very important for both the countries that they have peace and have good relationships.”