Reciprocity is the first principle of diplomacy, and India has walked the extra mile to befriend neighbours, as underscored by its record on land and water disputes. Yet today, India lives in the world’s most-troubled neighbourhood. India’s generosity on land issues has been well documented.

When Pakistani Americans Mahnaz Fancy and Zeyba Rahman launched Pakistani Peace Builders (PPB) in May, they did so to bring Pakistani music and heritage to American audiences. An independent cultural diplomacy campaign, PPB aimed to counteract stereotypes and misperceptions of Pakistanis that Fancy and Rahman saw becoming more prominent.

The US has been generous to Pakistan in its times of need, but deep-seated hostility towards Washington won't change if people suspect that humanitarian aid has a hidden agenda.

A policy of branding U.S. aid to flood-ravaged Pakistan is risking the security of aid workers working in the Islamic nation, according to a group of relief organizations. Eleven aid agencies including Oxfam, Save the Children, World Vision and CARE International warn that using a “stars and stripes” logo on U.S.-funded assistance compromises their neutrality in a nation mired in anti-U.S. sentiments.

I wrote last week... "The U.S. military has been working hard to provide flood assistance, but most of that is invisible to Pakistanis," I noted. That seemed to me to be a missed opportunity -- and characteristic of a weird misfire in U.S. public diplomacy. For a superpower, we can be oddly shy about advertising our good works.

India said on Tuesday that arch-rival Pakistan had accepted its offer of flood aid, but analysts say this piecemeal attempt at disaster diplomacy will not help improve relations between the two sides.

Confusion reigns about a solution for Pakistan's internal problems. International opinion oscillates between the need to apply more pressure on the country, or else to help it more generously. Yet increased aggression or abandoning the country to deal with its difficulties are not very sensible options, as both could unleash severe destabilisation within Pakistan and beyond.

As the contradictions of Asia’s water challenges have been laid bare this summer—with millions affected by flooding while others are hit by droughts—one thing has been made clearer: the coming water crisis could exacerbate already simmering domestic and regional tensions.