Pakistan’s state and society face a double threat: that of a disintegration of order under the pressure of jihadist violence, and that of economic collapse. While it offers only a glimmer of hope, the news that Islamabad and Delhi are preparing to liberalise trade between each other could not be more timely.

Pakistan’s economic and political woes are two sides of the same malign coin. A breakdown in security in swaths of the country – the outcome of Islamabad’s lethal cultivation of jihadism to counter New Delhi’s presence in Kashmir – combines with dire infrastructure and bureaucratic mismanagement to discourage economic activity. A failure to realise people’s material aspirations in turn provides violent groups with the best recruitment drive they could hope for.

Solutions to Pakistan’s predicament must similarly address both the politics and the economics. On both dimensions, greater and freer trade with India can only be a good thing.