Underlying the two statements, however, is an emerging bipartisan consensus i: irrespective of the outcome of the US elections in November, the next American administration will have no option but to make every effort to counter this threat along and across the Durand Line that separates Pakistan and Afghanistan.

For more than five decades, the American embrace of Pakistan has been the principal obstacle to the improvement of Indo-US relations. At precisely the moment when that relationship seems headed for a huge transformation and Pakistan appears increasingly incapable of controlling its own territory and is seen as a threat to the international system, New Delhi has been caught gazing at its own navel.

If the government wins the confidence vote next week, India will be in a position to look beyond the current surreal nuclear debate and position itself to shape the long-term evolution of Pakistan and Afghanistan. An India that stumbles now would miss a historic opportunity to reconstitute the fundamentals of its security environment.

The writer is a professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore iscrmohan@ntu.edu.sg