Carried away by its own rhetoric and its skill in managing the media, public opinion and perceptions, this government at times displays a tendency to act delusional. This can be damaging to polity and policy within the country, which largely plays out in the medium and longer term. But a delusional diplomatic faux pas impacts immediately. The two obvious examples in this context are a damaging diplomatic overreach by the Indian ambassador to Sweden Banashri Bose Harrison acting under the instructions of the External Affairs Ministry in the wake of President Pranab Mukherjee’s controversial Bofors interview, and an adolescent machismo betrayed by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar threatening to fight Pakistan’s state sponsored terrorism against India by encouraging terrorism against Pakistan.