Courting nuclear disaster

When India detonated five nuclear bombs this week four years ago, many of its leaders, especially BJP ministers, convinced themselves that New Delhi had now staked an irrefutable claim to both international prestige and security. When Nawaz Sharif set off six of his own blasts in "retaliation", he boasted: "Ab Pakistan hamesha ke liye mahfooz ho gaya." (Now Pakistan has become safe forever).

Strategic "experts" in both countries duly spun out fanciful ex post rationalisations for the blasts. India and Pakistan, they prophesied, would both become more secure. "Maturity" and sobriety would be infused into their fraught relationship. South Asia would become "stable". India and Pakistan would gain in global stature and expand their room for independent manoeuvre.