The international timetable for the nuclear initiative, however, might be less important than the domestic timeline for the Congress to decide on the future of its increasingly hurtful coalition with the Left and a strategy for returning as the single largest party in the next Lok Sabha. The Congress, hopefully, believes that the shape of the next ruling coalition should depend on its strength rather than its weakness.

A Congress that chooses to act in its own self-interest would also serve the national interest on the nuclear initiative. A resolute Congress will find that there is plenty of international goodwill and some time yet to clinch the nuclear deal. For a timorous Congress, bogged down by self-doubt, no amount of time will be enough.

The writer is a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

iscrmohan@ntu.edu.sg