A week after the surgical strikes, the Modi government is at an interesting crossroads. The first option is to pick up the threads of the conversation between the two NSAs. The strikes have created the political space for the Prime Minister to begin a serious conversation with Pakistan. The Mumbai 2008 attacks had denied such comfort to Manmohan Singh and even to Modi till the Indian army replied to the Uri strikes in a blaze of publicity. As Kashmir enters the fourth month of street protests and security crackdowns, New Delhi surely knows that the Valley cannot be quietened by domestic political and security initiatives alone. The rabble-rousers may differ but Pakistan will play an important role in bringing normalcy to Kashmir. The second alternative is to score more points by responding to the incessant domestic and Pakistani baiting on the authenticity of the surgical strikes. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is urging the government to make public the army’s raid videos to quell misgivings. Former Union Minister P Chidambaram doubts whether one highly publicised cross-border operation will end India’s woes with Pakistan. Having lost political ground, AAP and the Congress are well within their rights to try to bring down their adversary by questioning its version of events. But the BJP’s angry response to the insinuations by AAP and the Congress should not be allowed to escalate. Very few in India doubt the army’s version about the surgical strikes. If the videos are to be released for maximum effect, that moment has passed. Any attempt to upload digital recordings of the surgical strikes will make the mending of fences more difficult while the skeptics will anyway remain unconvinced about its genuineness. On the other hand, it may not be a good idea to rub Pakistan’s nose in the dust or make its army lose face by releasing the raid videos.  Pakistan is neither a failing state nor a helpless, isolated nation at the mercy of others. Its government may feel compelled to respond with another misadventure. It is doubtful if an escalation will benefit anyone except the radical fringe.