Increasingly, the space for India to engage other countries is shrinking and hardening, primarily because post-Sharm El Sheikh, we have a leadership that worries about the public backlash all the time, and because the two communities who should be tasked with preparing the ground for engagement --the ministry of external affairs and the media -- are instead drawing red lines.
Fortunately for those disappointed fans, there are several signs that India and Pakistan may be padding up for a new round of engagement, which could possibly change the atmospherics in time for IPL-4. Last week Foreign Minister S M Krishna picked up the phone to dial his Pakistani counterpart S M Qureshi, to greet him on the occasion of the New Year and to push for progress in the Mumbai attack investigations.