India, June 28 -- I was asked an intriguing question the other day that set me thinking. To be honest, I'm not sure if it wasn't intended as a joke or, perhaps, to provoke. But it raised an issue I had not considered until then. Could Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and, possibly, the country's chief of defence forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, be serious contenders for this year's Nobel Peace Prize?

At the moment, I would question the word "serious", but contenders they could well be. It all depends on whether the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding holds and, more critically, leads to a credible and lasting peace deal.

If either were to happen, they would be serious contenders. Of that, I have little doubt. Whether they get...