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Publication Date: May 2005
Publisher: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Author(s): Ashley J. Tellis
Research Area: Government
Type: Brief
Coverage: Pakistan India
Abstract:
The widely noted decision to resume F-16 sales to Pakistan and, even more, the largely ignored commitment to assist India's growth in power represent a new U.S. strategy toward South Asia. By expanding relations with both states in a differentiated way matched to their geostrategic weights, the Bush administration seeks to assist Pakistan in becoming a successful state while it enables India to secure a troublefree ascent to great-power status. These objectives will be pursued through a large economic and military assistance package to Islamabad and through three separate dialogues with New Delhi that will review various challenging issues such as civil nuclear cooperation, space, defense coproduction, regional and global security, and bilateral trade. This innovative approach to India and Pakistan is welcome--and long overdue in a strategic sense--but it is not without risks to the United States, its various regional relationships, and different international regimes.