The notion of a Pakistani intelligence chief on Indiansoil, sharing evidence with his Indian counterparts in a joint operation againsta horrific attack in Mumbai was in the end too remarkable to be true.Recognizing that terrorist extremism is increasingly threatening internal andexternal security for both states, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and PresidentAsif Ali Zardari devised the best confidence-building measure in a generationwhen the Indian Prime Minister requested and Pakistan’s President assented tosend Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) head Ahmed Shuja Pasha toNew Delhi to assist in tracking down those responsible. But unable to come togrips with the thought of ‘enemy’ intelligence agencies sharing forces, andperhaps worried about their own political fortunes, hardliners in both countriesjointly snuffed out this visionary and unprecedented step. Both India andPakistan are poorer as a result.