Sometimes, of course, we do go public, with ridiculous consequences. It happened in Assam on Independence Day, when Prafulla Kumar Mahanta proudly announced that on the basis of information provided by the three ISI men who were captured recently, Indian securitymen had illegally crossed the Bangladesh border posing as ISI cadres and `liberated' a haul of explosives from operatives in that country. Not only does that cloud the air between Bangladesh and India, but it also put the ISI men across the border on the alert. A potential source of information was negated for ever. Mahanta has revealed himself to be a reliable custodian of our independence. In contrast, the operation that led to the capture of three militants who were planning to set off explosions in Delhi during the polls went likeclockwork. One can only wish that operations were always as efficiently executed.

The main point, however, is that while Pakistan has reopened its old front, the situation is a little different this time and India is in a position to open a brand new front. Pakistan committed a serious blunder in Kargil and made its traditional ally, the US, rather uneasy. The `concert of democracies' is a happy myth, but the fact is that India has moved closer to the western democracies in the sense that they have a common enemy: Islamism. What India has to say is more likely to be heard now, provided it continues to project the maturity and restraint that it displayed during the crisis. This will have to be the second front. It will have to feed off Pakistan's second front and render it impossible to use. In the meantime, of course, the intelligence community and the security forces will have to continue with the excellent teamwork that led to the capture of the huge arsenal that was to be used against Delhi.