Kudos to the Modi government for taking diplomacy back to shadowy, discreet chambers, and away from media spotlights and studios.

In a surprise announcement, the government said on Sunday that the national security advisers (NSAs) of India and Pakistan met in Bangkok to discuss a variety of issues. According to a joint statement put out by the two countries, apart from Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Nasir Khan Janjua, the foreign secretaries of the two countries also attended the meeting.

Apart from Jammu and Kashmir, Sunday’s meeting covered terrorism and peace along the Line of Control. New Delhi showed flexibility on this “broadening” of the agenda, which was one of the key demands of Pakistan, said sources. Two officials familiar with the meeting said Doval called on Pakistan totake steps to rein in operations by anti-India organisations like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, both of which have stepped up operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

With the benefit of hindsight, it can be said the meeting was on the horizon and the two sides had dropped enough hints to indicate discussions were imminent. But the media, thank god for that, failed to pick them up.

On November 28, Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif reportedly told British premier David Cameron during a meeting in Malta that he was ready for talks with India without any "preconditions."

Three days later, Sharif and Modi had a brief meeting--obviously it wasn't as brief as it was thought then--on the sidelines of the climate change summit in Paris. And within a week, the foreign secretaries and