Even two years ago, it would have been difficult to imagine a situation in which a visiting United States Secretary of State would not deliver a homily, at a joint press conference with India's External Affairs Minister, or elsewhere, on the need for New Delhi and Islamabad to do more to improve their acrimonious ties.

That Mr Colin Powell had no occasion to do so during his joint press conference with Mr Yashwant Sinha on Tuesday, reflected two major developments. First, the effort India has been making, despite continuing and murderous acts of terrorism, to establish peaceful and cordial ties with Pakistan, has left no scope for the US or any other country, to sermonise.

The process, which began when Mr Vajpayee announced at a public meeting in Srinagar on 18 April last year, that he was extending his hand of friendship to Pakistan, has led to talks between both countries and a marked thaw in their relations, to which the Indian cricket team's current tour of Pakistan is a testimony. Second, it also reflects the depth and diversity that Indo-US relations, described by Mr Powell as the "best ever", has acquired. Mr Sinha and Mr Powell discussed a wide range of subjects including cooperation in civilian nuclear and space programmes, high technology trade, missile defence, and nuclear non-proliferation, with special reference to the nuclear blackmarket which Pakistan's Dr AQ Khan had been running, and the danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists.

Understandably, outsourcing also featured in the discussions. It is a tribute to the maturity of both Governments and the level of understanding between them, that they decided to remain engaged on the issue and not allow it or anything else to create any misunderstanding. In fact, Mr Powell's statement that outsourcing was a reality of 21st century international economics, stands in refreshing contrast to the kind of xenophobic noises being made by Senator John Kerry, who seems set to becoming the Democratic candidate in the forthcoming US presidential elections. Given the latter and the criticism in certain American quarters of India being one of the most "closed economies", Mr Powell did well to clarify that there was no quid pro quo between outsourcing and the opening up of the Indian economy to US exports. The fact is that globalisation is bringing to countries business in areas where they have an advantage over the others.

If India has an edge in outsourcing at the moment, it may lose it, or may not be interested in retaining it, in the years to come. Also, India is carefully calibrating the opening up of its economy in terms of the WTO's requirements and can hardly be expected to accelerate the process. In any case, the US which heavily subsidises its agricultural products and has set up protectionist barriers in areas like garments import, is hardly the country to gripe about the "closed" nature of India's economy.