By Sumit Ganguly
President Asif Ali Zardarihas returned to Pakistan after his visit to a noted Sufi shrine in Ajmer and his subsequent,closed door lunch with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This wasn’t an official visit to India, though some in India’s attentive public had hoped that the visit might presage a move toward a relaxation of tensions with Pakistan.
Such hopes were in the air following a recent Indian trade fair held in Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab, which had attracted considerable fanfare. But these fond hopes of a possible lessening of strained ties are unlikely to be realized anytime soon. Zardari’s position at home remains uncertain at best, the government in New Delhi is besieged on multiple fronts, and it’s anything but self-evident that Zardari’s efforts at bonhomie enjoy the imprimatur of the Pakistani military.
Read the full story at The Diplomat