AP Photo

If ever there was any doubt about Pakistan having realised the folly of using medieval and barbaric Islamists for fulfilment of strategic designs, these doubts now need to be put to rest. For the Pakistan army [ Images ], the real enemy is India; the Taliban [ Images ] remain a strategic asset.

The interview of the Pakistan military spokesman, Maj Gen Athar Abbas to CNN a couple of weeks back, was the first open acknowledgement of this immutable reality. The subsequent denial by his office of the deep links and continuing contacts between the Pakistan army and the Taliban leadership turned out to be...