India's general elections are often billed as the biggest democratic show on the planet, and with good reason. This time, some 350 million voters went to the polls, and one million electronic voting machines - some of which had to be transported on elephant-back - were pressed into service across the length and breadth of the subcontinent.
The tussle that ended late on Thursday threw up one of the biggest surprises in recent world politics. Pre-poll estimates suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government, with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at the helm since early 1998, would be returned to power. Their theme was 'India Shining', and a 10.4 per cent growth rate in the last quarter of 2003 drove the point home.
Voters, however, returned a very different verdict. The 119-year-old Indian National Congress Party, led by Sonia Gandhi, widow of former prime minister Rajiv, won a resounding victory, forcing Mr Vajpayee to resign.
A new government led by Mrs Gandhi is expected to be announced over the weekend. Congress and its allies won 216 seats in the 543-member lower house, the BJP camp 188 seats, and the Indian left emerged as the third-largest single party with 62 seats - its best showing since 1947. The anxiety about a hung parliament has been dispelled, as demonstrated by an immediate rally in the stock markets.
What will a Congress-led government mean for India's security and foreign policy, particularly with respect to the United States, China and Pakistan? On the basis of a pre-poll Congress manifesto, it is safe to assume there will be a fundamental continuity. Currently, Indian-US ties are poised for further growth, and this determination to improve relations with Washington will prevail - although there may be a change in nuance and emphasis.
In like fashion, the dialogue with Pakistan agreed in January in the joint statement from Mr Vajpayee and Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf will proceed as scheduled. The next phase will be a meeting in Delhi on May 25 and 26 to discuss nuclear and missile-related issues.