India batting hero Sachin Tendulkar said beating Pakistan in the World Cup was the ulimate achievement.
Tendulkar's aggressive 98 laid the foundation for victory as India maid certain of a berth in the next phase of the competition.
It was the first meeting of the Asian rivals in almost three years - and for Tendulkar it was well worth the wait.
"We are very excited about this victory," Tendulkar said after accepting the Man-of-the-Match award.
"This has always been a special game for us and nothing means more to us than this.
"The ball was coming on quite nicely and I was picking the line and length so I thought I would play some aggressive cricket."
Tendulkar's knock put India well on their way to victory, though they were still 97 runs short when he fell to Shoaib Akhtar.
He was slowed by cramp as his innings went on, crawling from 73 to 98 before he was caught at backward point off Shoaib Akhtar, shortly after calling for a runner.
"I just started cramping and it got worse and worse until it came to the stage where I couldn't stand," he said.
"It is probably the first time that I have used a runner and it didn┐t work."
India were steered home by Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, who notched an unbeaten half-century.
"I'd like to congratulate Yuvraj because he has done well so many times in pressure situations," Tendulkar said.
One of the best
Skipper Sourav Ganguly labelled Tendulkar's innings one of the best he has seen.
"The way Sachin played, I haven't seen a better innings for a long, long time," he said.
"We felt on a good wicket any total is gettable though obviously they have a good attack.
"But the way we batted was superb from the start we got from Sachin and Virender Sehwag."
Ganguly said the win would mean a lot to India's cricket-mad public.
"It was a big game and a win here has given smiles to everybody back home," he said.
"Schools were closed, offices were closed and the way we played had made the whole country proud."