Indian foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani on July 4 under the shadow of rapid developments of the past week, which saw release of Indian prisoner Surjeet Singh, Pakistani flip-flop over Sarabjit Singh’s release and the capture and shocking statements by 26/11 mastermind Abu Jundal.

The talks quite naturally would be affected by the impact of all these events. Sometimes best-laid plans can go awry and when it comes to India-Pakistan matters, for sure, they always ricochet.