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India: U.S. and India Must Cooperate, Expert Says India and the United States must cooperate on proliferation, terrorism and increasing modernization in South Asia, said C. Raja Mohan, strategic affairs editor for the Hindu, at a meeting yesterday at the Henry L. Stimson Center. “We’ve got to work together” to control biochemical and nuclear weapons and promote stability in Pakistan, he said. Mohan said India has typically viewed the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction as a U.S. problem and rejected the idea that proliferation is an inherent danger. India was more interested in “joining the club” of nuclear states and gained national confidence by defying U.S. requests to halt nuclear proliferation. Recent terrorist attacks and anthrax scares in the United States, however, have changed some of India’s attitudes about proliferation, he said, adding that India has experienced the devastation of a natural plague and knows the horror that could result from a biological attack. States must change the nonproliferation framework and stop focusing on “who’s in the club,” Mohan said. The United States and India must instead focus on how they can cooperate, including how to prevent proliferation and how to respond militarily when necessary. He said the United States must differentiate between “the good guys and the bad guys,” and involved countries must deal with nuclear escalation as an important threat separately from the Kashmir conflict. The international community must reevaluate its strategic framework and terminology, which is still largely based in Cold War strategy, said Indian Commodore Uday Bhaskar, deputy director of the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, at the same meeting. The concept of deterrence requires serious reconsideration, he said, adding that states must ask what deterrence means in a post-Cold War, post-Sept. 11 world and if the concept of mutually assured destruction still applies. He also said the Cold War state-centric concept is no longer relevant, since developments below the state level are now important, such as nonstate actors acquiring and developing weapons of mass destruction. India-Pakistan Relationship Mohan said India has shown interest in negotiating with Pakistan to resolve disputes. He said the current situation could provide an opportunity for the two countries to improve relations. India is, however, worried that Pakistan may use its new role as a key U.S. partner to escalate the conflict in Kashmir, he said, adding that India has clearly told Pakistan not to take advantage of India’s restraint. India needs clearer assurance from the United States that it will not allow Pakistan a free hand in Kashmir, he said. Bhaskar said India is happy the United States has stopped looking at the region through the perspective of an “India-Pakistan policy” and has begun to evaluate relations with the two countries on their separate merits since Sept. 11. Fighting Terrorism Mohan said the United States must keep its long-term interests in mind. He said he understood why the United States must focus on al-Qaeda now and depend on Pakistan for immediate military needs. When a raging bull charges you, you have to kill it before asking questions such as who fed it, he said, but added that the United States must also work to combat the conditions that led to al-Qaeda’s and the Taliban’s development and must consider the long-term effects of its Pakistan policy. Once the United States has achieved its tactical objectives, Mohan said, it should remain engaged in the region rather than pulling out as in the past, adding that long-term engagement is in the interest of U.S. security (Kerry Boyd, GSN, Oct. 17).
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