Michael Kugelman is the writer of Foreign Policy’s weekly South Asia Brief. He is the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington.
Pakistani NGO activists hold placards during an event to celebrate the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai in Islamabad on October 14, 2014. New Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai wasted little time living up to the accolade last week, inviting the leaders of traditional foes India and Pakistan to accompany her and fellow winner Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights activist, to the award ceremony. But, just hours later, a fresh exchange of fire between troops in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir provided a stark reminder that the prospect of lasting peace remains as distant as ever. AFP PHOTO/ Aamir QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)
Afghan National Army commandos take position during an ongoing battle between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces in Helmand province on October 10, 2016.
At least 14 people, mostly Afghan security forces were killed in southern Afghan city of Lashkar Gah on October 10, after the Taliban insurgents launched a coordinated attack involving a car bomb, to breach the city defences, Afghan officials said. / AFP / NOOR MOHAMMAD (Photo credit should read NOOR MOHAMMAD/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 26: Hartaj Singh, originally of India, stands for the U.S. national anthem before becoming an American citizen on July 26, 2013 in New York City. Eighty immigrants from 47 countries became Americans at a naturalization ceremony held by the USCIS at the New York Historical Society. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 12: Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for National Security Advisor, waits for an elevator in the lobby at Trump Tower, December 12, 2016 in New York City. President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
In this photograph taken on November 3, 2015, Afghan Taliban fighters listen to Mullah Mohammad Rasool Akhund (unseen), the newly appointed leader of a breakaway faction of the Taliban, at Bakwah in the western province of Farah. A breakaway faction of the Taliban has appointed its own leader in the first formal split in the Afghan militant movement under new head Mullah Mansour, posing a fresh hurdle to potential peace talks. Mullah Rasool was named the leader of the faction in a mass gathering of dissident fighters this week in the remote southwestern province of Farah, according to an AFP reporter who attended the meeting. AFP PHOTO / Javed Tanveer (Photo credit should read JAVED TANVEER/AFP/Getty Images)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung following an agreement signing in New Delhi on October 28, 2014. Vietnam Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has sought India's support to resolve territorial disputes in the South China Sea, local media reported October 28, in a bid to shore up regional alliances as relations have soured with Asian giant China. AFP PHOTO / PRAKASH SINGH (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)
Karachi, PAKISTAN: Pakistani shoppers examine goods at a crowded electronics market in Karachi, 16 May 2007, on the third day after bloody clashes in the southern port city. Pakistani authorities have banned gatherings of more than five people in Karachi amid continuing violence over the suspension of the country's top judge which has left nearly 40 people dead. AFP PHOTO/Asif HASSAN (Photo credit should read ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)
The toll from a suicide blast in Pakistan's Lahore rose to 69, officials said on March 28, as authorities hunted for the "savage inhumans" behind the attack in a park packed with Christian families celebrating Easter Sunday. More than 200 people were injured, many of them children, when explosives packed with ball bearings ripped through crowds near a children's play area in the park in Lahore, leaving dozens dead or bloodied. / AFP / ARIF ALI (Photo credit should read ARIF ALI/AFP/Getty Images)
Pakistani devotees leave after offering Eid prayers at the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan at the Badshahi Mosque in Lahore on July 18, 2015. Muslims around the world are celebrating Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the month of Ramadan, after the sighting of the new crescent moon. AFP PHOTO / Arif ALI (Photo credit should read Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)
A supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wears a mask of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India, on Saturday, July 25, 2015. More than anywhere, Bihar reflects the challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces in overhauling modern India. A vast, landlocked plain bordering the Himalayan nation of Nepal to the north and bisected by the Ganges, India's holiest river, the state is home to about one in 12 Indians. Photographer: Prashanth Vishwanathan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
