US to work for better Pakistan-India ties: Kashmir recognised as problem
By Our Correspondent
WASHINGTON, March 16: The Bush administration’s new policy for South Asia, released with the national security strategy on Thursday, emphasises the need to further promote bilateral relations between India and Pakistan.
In the new strategy, Kashmir is recognized as a problem, and the US administration pledges to take ‘concrete steps’ to further decrease the threat of a military confrontation between India and Pakistan over this dispute.
India is recognized as a country with the potential to become “one of the great democratic powers of the twenty-first century” while Pakistan is seen as an ally which chose to support the US in the war against terror.
Pakistan is also mentioned among the countries whose leaders are making the commitment to fight terrorism at ‘great personal risk.’
“Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have launched effective efforts to capture or kill the leadership of the Al Qaeda network,” the document adds.
The new strategy also makes it clear that the US will not shy away from attacking regimes it considers hostile, or groups it believes have nuclear or chemical weapons.
The Bush administration’s emphasis on ‘transformational democracy’, unveiled in President Bush’s inaugural speech for his second term, remains an overriding aim of his administration in the new strategy as well.
But the concept of ‘coalitions of the willing’, the philosophy critics say fractured the transatlantic alliance and undermined the United Nations, is notably absent.
“We must be prepared to act alone if necessary, while recognizing that there is little of lasting consequence that we can accomplish without the sustained cooperation of our allies and partners,” the document says.
In the chapter on defusing regional conflicts, the document notes that relations between India and Pakistan have improved, with an exchange of high-level visits and a new spirit of cooperation in the dispute over Kashmir — a cooperation made more tangible by humanitarian actions undertaken following a destructive earthquake.
“Our involvement in this regional dispute — building on earlier investments in bilateral relations — looks first to concrete steps by India and Pakistan that can help defuse military confrontation,” the document notes.
The new strategy recalls that in South Asia, the US has also emphasized the need for India and Pakistan to resolve their disputes and that the Bush administration ‘invested time and resources’ building strong bilateral relations with India and Pakistan.
These strong relations then gave us leverage to play a constructive role when tensions in the region became acute.
“With Pakistan, our bilateral relations have been bolstered by Pakistan’s choice to join the war against terror and move toward building a more open and tolerant society.
“The Administration sees India’s potential to become one of the great democratic powers of the twenty-first century and has worked hard to transform our relationship accordingly.”
Talking about America’s ambitions in today’s world, the new strategy mentions ‘ending tyranny in our world’, as one of the administration’s main goals.
But it draws a line between the ideals of this strategy and the means used for implementing them.
“Our national security strategy is idealistic about its goals and realistic about means,” the document says. By contrast, the 2002 document projected a willingness to engage in wars of choice without allies’ overwhelming support.
The new document steps back from its generally optimistic view of Russia.
In 2002, Russia was said to be “in the midst of a hopeful transition, reaching for its democratic future and a partner in the war on terror”.
Now the US report calls on Russia not to impede the cause of freedom on its borders. “Recent trends regrettably point toward a diminishing commitment to democratic freedoms and institutions,” it says.
