Option 1: Reduce Regional Tensions

India vs. Pakistan

Proponents Say: Focus on Reducing Regional Tensions.

• Make settlement of the Kashmir issue a top priority of U.S. foreign policy.
• Take an active role in bringing India and Pakistan to agreement on the Kashmir issue, similar to the role the United States has played in the Middle East peace process.
• Build on improved relations with Pakistan and India due to cooperation against terrorism to gain their confidence and their acceptance of the United States as an "honest broker" in negotiations on Kashmir.
• Reduce the prominence of WMD issues in U.S. diplomacy with both countries.
• Promote economic development in both countries.

Opponents Say: The U.S. Should Maintain Its Focus on WMD Issues.

• The United States cannot contribute on the issue of Kashmir. India has refused for decades to permit outsiders to involve themselves in this dispute. 
• The United States cannot broker talks until both sides are willing to discuss Kashmir. India has ruled out talks with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue until Pakistan halts support of Kashmiri militants and hands over suspects in the December 13, 2001 terror attack on Indian Parliament. Pakistan denies material support of militants in Kashmir.
• Even if India did not object to talks, the issue is so vital to both India and Pakistan — and to the political survival of their leaders — that neither side can make concessions. A settlement could take a decade to achieve. The Kashmir question is tied to the issue of national identity in India and Pakistan. On one hand, the annexation of the Muslim-majority province is regarded as a touchstone for Pakistani nationalism, which is based on a separate Muslim identity. On the other hand, Indian leaders view the retention of Kashmir within India as a touchstone for the secular identity of the Indian state. Thus, Kashmir has become a question of conflicting nationalisms.
• Given that any settlement talks will take years, it would be a mistake for the United States to reduce its efforts to restrain the two countries' nuclear and missile programs. This objective needs to remain in the forefront of U.S. diplomacy in South Asia.
• The economic prosperity of the region is partially dependent on the ability of the two countries to control military tensions and prevent conflict from erupting. A nuclear arms race in South Asia could cause the governments to spend on military build-up rather than economic development. Therefore the United States should give priority to WMD issues.

Further Reading:

	U.S. Department of State, Fact Sheet: Sanctions on India and Pakistan
	CRS, Jeanne J. Grimmett, "Nuclear Sanctions: Section 102(b) of the Arms Export Control Act and Its Application to India and Pakistan"

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