Bird’s Eye: Conflicts start down the road to resolution when people on opposite sides talk to each other. So it’s a pleasure to offer three stories that are good news, as three major areas of conflict start to have enemies communicating. Every step forward helps.

* India Makes Major Shift in Policy in Kashmir New York Times

The Indian government announced a major policy shift in Kashmir on Saturday, calling for the release of jailed student protesters, easing security strictures in major cities, reopening schools and universities, and offering financial compensation to the families of the more than 100 civilians killed since the restive region erupted in protests in June.

Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who led a parliamentary delegation on a fact-finding trip last week, also said a high-level government committee would be established to open a dialogue with political parties, students and civil society groups in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian-controlled part of the disputed region.

* Settlers replace Korans burnt in West Bank mosque Haaretz

Settlers on Tuesday gave new copies of the Koran to Palestinians in a West Bank village whose mosque was burned in an attack blamed by Palestinians on settlers.

Several copies of Islam’s holy book were scorched in the arson attack and threats in Hebrew were scrawled on the wall of the mosque of Beit Fajjar early on Monday.

“This visit is to say that although there are people who oppose peace, he who opposes peace is opposed to God,” said Rabbi Menachem Froman, a well-known peace activist and one of a handful of settlers who went to Beit Fajjar to show solidarity with their Muslim neighbors.

* Taliban In Talks With Karzai Government Washington Post

Taliban representatives and the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai have begun secret, high-level talks over a negotiated end to the war, according to Afghan and Arab sources.

The talks follow inconclusive meetings, hosted by Saudi Arabia, that ended more than a year ago. While emphasizing the preliminary nature of the current discussions, the sources said that for the first time they believe that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and its leader, Mohammad Omar. “They are very, very serious about finding a way out,” one source close to the talks said of the Taliban.