In the last few months, the peace process has come under greater stress with the Pakistan Army and the ISI returning to bad old ways — violating the ceasefire on the Line of Control in J&K, stepping up support to cross-border terrorism, and bombing the Indian embassy in Kabul.

Despite these provocations, New Delhi has been rather sensible in explicitly differentiating between Pakistan’s civilian leaders who want to build on the peace process with India and the Army that is desperate to undermine it.

In the coming days and weeks, New Delhi will have to further develop this nuanced approach with one paramount political objective in mind — rejigging Pakistan’s internal political balance in favour of elected leaders and civilian control over the Army and the ISI.

India always loomed large over Pakistan’s domestic politics. New Delhi must find ways to effectively exercising that power. That is best done by India actively cooperating with other great powers like the United States, regional players like Saudi Arabia which have considerable influence in Islamabad, and neighbours like Iran and Afghanistan, to nudge Pakistan in the right direction.

(The writer is a Professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)