While a degree of theatricality has always been part of the Indian political landscape, this past week Indian politics put on a cliff-hanger of a show. Ultimately, the Congress-led government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh won a confidence vote in parliament after lining up the support of a regional party to retain its majority in the Indian parliament. And it took nothing less than the threat of resignation from the prime minister for his own party to fall in line in backing him on the U.S.-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation pact, heralding the end-game for the treaty's operationalization. Such manoeuvring was long overdue, and the only mystery is why this crucial decision was left to the last minute.

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