As the US and India bask in the glow of a rejuvenated friendship, a civilian nuclear deal that may finally deliver what it first promised in 2006 and some small-scale military deals, the feeling in certain quarters in Pakistan may be one of acute discomfort.

After all, it does look like the world’s largest democracy and the world’s foremost advocate of democracy have more in common economically, diplomatically, and geo-strategically than anything the Pak-US relationship has to offer.

Read: Modi, Obama announce nuclear breakthrough after talks

To put it more bluntly, where the India-US relationship is seemingly about smiles and opportunities, the Pak-India relationship is about grimaces and perceptions of threat.

However, the simplistic, reactionary approach would miss the perhaps historic opportunity that a closer diplomatic, economic and military relationship between India and the US could create: it will surely be in the interest of both those sides to nudge the India-Pakistan relationship towards normality.

Consider first the incentive for the American side. A conflagration in South Asia is fundamentally against American interests, not least as it expands its search for markets in India.

Also read| Ties with India not at Pakistan’s expense: US

In addition, for all the focus on a rising India being a counterweight to China on the eastern side of Asia, there are plenty of security interests that Pakistan sits at the centre of on the western side of Asia, from Afghanistan to Iran and from the Central Asian Republics to the tensions internal to Muslim societies in the Gulf.

Not only have successive US administrations made it clear that Pakistan is a needed ally in the new century, it is also quite clear that India and Pakistan have their own roles to play in their respective spheres.

Consider then what closer ties between Delhi and Washington could mean: instead of the two ganging up on Pakistan on issues of security and Pakistan-based militancy, the incentives really are for the US to use its influence over India to try and push for the resumption of dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.

Of course, India will likely try and resist any such attempts by the US and the Modi government will certainly like to keep the pressure on. But international relations have a logic that goes beyond the wishes of a new leader, no matter how charismatic or ambitious.

The Modi foreign policy team is largely made up of novices on the international stage: while they do seem to understand the logic of business and economics, they have struggled with security equations.

Pakistan certainly needs to do more — much more — to placate the outside world about its concerns regarding Pakistan-based militancy.

However, nothing in the Modi government’s approach seems designed to induce those desirable security outcomes. Understanding economics and not security will only leave Prime Minister Modi’s India with lopsided vulnerabilities — meaning, it will eventually realise that there is no option but to talk to Pakistan.

The key though may be Pakistani sincerity and purposefulness — will it sustain the push against militants it has begun?

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play