When the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government decided it was going to keep its manifesto promise and abrogate the provisions under Article 370 and Article 35 A relating to Jammu and Kashmir, it was conscious of the international dimension of the decision. Managing the domestic fallout was important — but it was manageable. What was harder was to manage the external environment. So far, there have been few surprises, both from India’s friends and its enemies.
The abrogation came amid a public denial by India that the US had been sought out as a mediator in the Kashmir issue. But