Obama’s thoughts are unlikely to surprise Singh, who has presided over one of the most productive phases in Indo-Pak relations and launched the first substantive negotiations on Jammu and Kashmir in nearly five decades.

Both Obama and Singh would want a democratic Pakistan that is at peace with itself and is integrated with the rest of the region through open borders and free trade. They also recognise the anomaly of Pakistan, more than 60 years after its creation, does not have legitimate borders either to its east or west.

For the first time in decades, the objectives of India and the United States coincide in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The challenge for Obama and Singh is to design a common approach to achieve these goals.

(C. Raja Mohan is a Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore and a Contributing Editor of The Indian Express.)