NARENDRA MODI might justifiably have looked triumphant as he and his ministers were sworn in on May 26th. The new prime minister’s ceremony—a coronation, some said—was the grandest since independence. At Rashtrapati Bhavan, the president’s red sandstone palace, 4,000-odd guests indulged Mr Modi’s fondness since school for dramatics. Arrayed before him were his vanquished rivals: leaders of Congress and regional parties, and those sidelined in his own party.

Instead Mr Modi seemed preoccupied. He faces two difficult facts in national affairs. First, despite his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), having 282 members of parliament, most are insufficiently experienced or honest to be trusted as ministers. In theory that should be manageable, given Mr Modi’s hands-on style (senior bureaucrats are already briefing him). He could have produced a small cabinet heavy with technocrats. The second difficulty, however, pushed against lean, efficient rule by experts. While having a BJP majority in parliament’s lower house, Mr Modi will need allies in the upper house. He also needs support for his plans from the states. Other parties, in other words, must be wooed with ministerial jobs.

The result is a not-so-slender government of 45 ministers. Though it is far slimmer than the previous Congress-led government, which from the start of 2009 boasted 79 ministers, overlapping responsibilities among ministers might still frustrate reforms. For example, stemming rising food prices means scrapping rules dictating how food is grown, stored, priced and traded. Doing so will be tricky given that at least three cabinet ministers—for agriculture, food processing and distribution—will be involved. Similarly, delivering on promises of better transport will be hard when three members of cabinet—railways, road transport and civil aviation—will share the responsibility.

Mr Modi might yet overcome such problems through strong leadership and with a clutch of trusted collaborators. The most important of these is Arun Jaitley, an urbane lawyer from the upper house, who is the new finance minister and in effect Mr Modi’s second-in-command. Mr Jaitley has already talked about the need for economic growth, lower inflation and balancing the books. He has also attempted to soothe investors by hinting at more predictable taxation. On his first day in office he met the governor of the central bank, Raghuram Rajan, whom investors like, thus helping to quash rumours that Mr Rajan, an inflation hawk, might be sacked.

Mr Jaitley had shrewdly supported Mr Modi early in his bid to lead the BJP. So did Rajnath Singh, the home minister, one of several new ministers from Uttar Pradesh, a populous northern state where the party made great strides in the general election. Like Mr Modi, Mr Singh is close to a resurgent Hindu-nationalist outfit, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), as is Nitin Gadkari, the minister for roads. Another competent senior figure, Ravi Shankar Prasad, now has both the justice and the telecoms portfolios. He had been busy: after the first cabinet meeting this week, he announced a special investigation team to help repatriate billions of dollars of “black money”—the untaxed, sometimes illegally acquired, stashes Indians hold abroad.

The fate of Sushma Swaraj, one of six women in the cabinet, is revealing. Her clout in the party slumped after Mr Modi toppled her mentor, the ageing Lal Krishna Advani, as BJP leader last year. She has won a prestigious job, as foreign minister, but that position’s powers are traditionally limited; besides, Mr Modi displays a growing interest in foreign affairs. He is poised to appoint Ajit Doval, a brainy former spy who is tough on Pakistan, as his national security adviser. The two men may do most to shape foreign policy. Earlier this month, Mr Doval predicted that Indian foreign policy would be more decisive and backed by greater resources. Above all, it would seek a stable region so as to foster faster economic growth at home.

It all fits with Mr Modi’s foreign-policy success this week: persuading leaders from neighbouring countries to attend his swearing-in. It had not been done before, and after the ceremony, on his first day at work, Mr Modi held bilateral talks with each leader. The presence of Afghanistan’s president, Hamid Karzai, mattered since India will back a successor government to Mr Karzai’s as American forces withdraw (see next story). Mr Karzai told Mr Modi that a failed attack on May 23rd on the Indian consulate in Herat in western Afghanistan, was the work of Pakistani terrorists, Lashkar-e-Taiba, who sought hostages to embarrass Mr Modi.

Whoever struck probably will have hoped to set back improving relations between Mr Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif. He attended the ceremony against the wishes of Pakistan’s army, which sees India as an existential threat. Mr Sharif was conciliatory enough not to go on about the disputed territory of Kashmir—despite the risk of being accused of weakness back home.

In Delhi Mr Sharif also called on an ailing former BJP prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, recalling their joint search for peace between the two countries back in 1999. Could talks get somewhere today? Hawkish Indian bureaucrats will seek reasons not to engage. Pakistan’s army has always been wary. But politicians on both sides have a chance. The head of India’s foreign service, Sujatha Singh, mentioned two possible next steps: boosting trade and restarting diplomatic talks. After a flying start with an eager partner over the border, Mr Modi has momentum to exploit.