ISAS Briefs

Of late there has been a vast deficit of good news from South Asia. Each country of that subcontinent confronts a legion and varied problems. The governments of at least three – India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – face impending elections which, though not necessarily imminent, impinge persistently on their minds. This phenomenon is shaping all their actions. Each feels that there is much work to be done if it is to return to power. Each appears to be well past its salad days, and is understandably anxious to prolong its longevity. Happy tidings do not generally emanate from such circumstances. Indeed not many have in the recent times. One exception, somewhat intriguingly, though it can be explained as this paper will seek to do, is the gamut of India-Pakistan relations. There are ample discernible indications of a modicum of thawing in the chill that has traditionally enveloped them. The latest action indicative of that is the visit to Islamabad by the Indian Foreign Minister S M Krishna that, while not bereft of rhetoric, was not without substance either. This is definitely a sign of warming. But does it point to positive climate change?