Nearly three decades ago, when the Soviet troops entered Afghanistan then Indian prime minister, Indira Gandhi, sent her foreign minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to Islamabad to suggest a joint Indo-Pak response to the crisis. General Zia-ul Haq, who was all set to play a dramatic role in the new Great Game, dismissed that offer.

As the Great Game, in its latest incarnation, threatens to devour Pakistan’s territorial integrity, discreet offers of help from India might find a more receptive ear in the General Headquarters at Rawalpindi. As the Durand Line dissipates, India must contribute its bit to holding the line against resurgent extremism on the northwestern marches of the subcontinent. A democratic Pakistan would surely have been better positioned to win this war. India, however, does not have the luxury of choosing the political system in Pakistan.

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