Question marks, however, will remain on Zardari’s political longevity amidst a deepening domestic crisis and his ability to deliver on cross-border terrorism and normalise relations with India in the face of entrenched opposition from the army and the ISI. Having presided over the best four years in India-Pakistan relations, the PM has given Pakistan’s democratic leaders the benefit of the doubt. By taking a calculated risk, as on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the PM has a chance, slim though it might be, to alter the internal dynamics in Pakistan and rewrite the course of bilateral relations. A do-nothing policy amidst Pakistan’s internal convulsions would have been too timid. The nation hopes the PM’s bold gamble will pay off, but will keep its fingers firmly crossed.