The South Asian subcontinent, following an ice-age which had largely frozen its development and collaboration since independence more than 50 years ago, may have embarked on a new age of integration and promise in the aftermath of the January regional summit in Islamabad that found leaders ready to try to put the past aside in favour future union.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Kurshid Mahmud Kasuri carried out a previously-delayed mission to EU institutions on November 5 and 6 in Brussels with the twin objectives of putting back on track a stalled EU-Pakistan cooperation agreement and generally to appeal for support in the country's difficult dealings with terrorism and its neighbour and rival India.