India, year after year, returns a good number of people to the Forbes list of billionaires. Two of them have broken into the top echelons: Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Mukesh Ambani. Any person from Pakistan is yet to find a place on the list. Several Indian companies have done stunning acquisitions all over the world in the last few years. How many Pakistani takeovers have you read about? Many Indian companies have attained global scale of operations. Case studies are done on them in business schools across the world. Again it will be difficult to find anything from Pakistan here.

India has its problems. But there are signs of success as well, especially in the world of business. India’s businessmen are the new brand ambassadors of the country. The same is not true of Pakistan. A visit to any Pakistani news website will bring out what consumes the people there. The main news, nine times out of ten, will be on sectarian violence or the military offensive against the Taliban. You will be hard pressed to find business news on the home page. The columns and the blogs bring to light the angst at the primitive ways of the Taliban and other extremists. There are people there who want none of all this and are not afraid to raise their voice. But it is a tough fight. The Taliban may have suffered a setback in the Swat valley but this is not the last we have heard of them.
There is still a section of the radical school in India which believes in Akhand Bharat (Undivided India). Given the current state of Pakistan, do they still hold on to their dream? It is without any doubt now the most dangerous place on earth. 
Two countries separated at birth now live out different destinies. It is a story straight out of a Bollywood film. But the portents are ominous for India. A volatile neighbor is a dangerous proposition. This is a challenge the new administration will have to handle deftly.