India, June 28 -- Every Iranian enrichment advance, every shortening of the path towards weaponsgrade uranium, rests upon foundations poured by Pakistani hands.

Kafkaesque; in the grand theatre of nuclear diplomacy, where men in dark suits discuss restraint, regimes, safeguards and other polite abstractions, one inconvenient nucleus sits quietly beneath the velvet carpet.

The beginning of Iran's nuclear programme, and North Korea's, and Libya's, does not lie only in Tehran's defiance, Pyongyang's paranoia, or Gaddafi's appetite for theatrical power. It lies in Pakistan. And now the very same Pakistan, whitewashed by time and strategic usefulness, presents itself as a noble mediator, responsible nuclear state, possible peacemaker. The wo...