I don't want to use the Biblical analogy of Original Sin.  But in the wake of the mounting tension between India and Pakistan, I can't help feeling that the Vajpayee government committed a grave mistake in going for the nuclear tests in 1998.  Not only did it give the Pakistanis the excuses to go for their own tests, it also neutralized whatever conventional military superiority we had over that country.  Now, this whole equation between India and Pakistan has been frozen in perpetuity under the overhang of the mushroom cloud and MAD (mutually assured destruction) doctrine.  If India goes after the terrorist camps inside the Pakistani territory with any degree of substance, Pakistan is going to see this as an existential threat to itself and there is no telling how they are gonna react.  Realistically, India has got very little room to maneuver.