November 22, 2008	Saturday	Ziqa'ad 23, 1429

WASHINGTON, Nov 21: US President-elect Barack Obama is considering a new diplomatic push on Kashmir, reversing eight years of American silence on the issue, an influential US newspaper reported on Friday.

Christian Science Monitor attributed Mr Obama’s interest in seeking a solution to the Kashmir dispute to his desire to be successful in Afghanistan.

In a recent interview to Time magazine, Mr Obama acknowledged talks about Kashmir were among the “critical tasks for the next administration”.

The newspaper noted that Mr Obama was not alone in believing that there could be no peace in Afghanistan without resolving major disputes between India and Pakistan.

“Security analysts (also) say the Afghan insurgency has roots in the power struggle between India and Pakistan and cannot be solved without a regional approach.”

“It will be very hard to put Afghanistan on a long-term positive path without alleviating some of the Indo-Pakistan tensions,” said Xenia Dormandy of the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.