What Role Does The United States Have In The India-Pakistan Crisis?

Tuesday, June 11, 2002
9:30am - 11:00am
Brookings Institution

Recent visits by American and Western officials to South Asia appear to have reduced the risk of war between India and Pakistan. These visits may have achieved the limited objective of restraining the two regional powers, which both possess nuclear weapons. But can they bring peace to the subcontinent?

In the past, India has rejected external mediation in the Kashmir dispute while Pakistan has sought outside intervention in support of its own position. In the current crisis, however, India has sought American help in pressuring Pakistan to cease cross-border infiltration of militants into the disputed territory. The U.S. has also gained significant leverage with the Pakistani government in the past year since Islamabad's decision to join the international coalition in the global war on terror. Should the United States use its new-found position to broker a Kashmir deal that stops the terrorism in India and satisfies Pakistan's demands in Kashmir?

A panel of Brookings scholars, including Indian and Pakistani experts, briefed the press and the public on the various issues associated with the crisis coinciding with trips to the region by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Moderator: 
James B. Steinberg
Vice President and Director, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; Former Deputy National Security Adviser

Panelists:
Stephen P. Cohen
Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; Author of India: Emerging Power and The Pakistan Army

Navnita Chadha Behera
Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; Author of State, Identity and Violence: Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh

Brigadier Feroz Hassan Khan
Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Program, The Brookings Institution; Former Deputy Director, Strategic Plans Division (nuclear war-fighting office), Pakistan Army

James Steinberg: Good morning and welcome to Brookings. Not that almost any day wouldn't be a timely day to have a discussion about India and Pakistan but with the fast pace of events in the last several days it seems particularly timely that we're able to bring together a group of distinguished fellows here from Brookings to talk about recent events, to assess whether the relatively positive signs over the last 24 hours represent a significant turning point in the current crisis, what the longer term implications will be, and to look at this from three distinct perspectives.

First, from the U.S. point of view we have our Senior Fellow Steve Cohen, one of the leading authorities I think in the world on events in South Asia. He's recently published a book on India but he's going to talk about the long term prospectus of the United States and the potential U.S. role in the region.

Then we have two visiting scholars from the region who are joining us today. Navnita Chadha-Behera who will talk about the Indian perspective on current events and look at some of the questions not only related to Kashmir but also implications for nuclear developments in the region and terrorism.

And finally General Feroz Khan who will give us some perspectives from the Pakistani point of view.

So Steve, if you'd kick it off?