FOXNews.com - Views - Kashmir Peace Key to Fighting Terror Some experts believe that Kashmir is the second most dangerous flashpoint on earth. (The first is the demilitarized zone in the Korean Peninsula). Last year, the State Department in Washington leaked a study that estimated that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could kill almost 14 million people. In the wake of the liberation of Iraq last March, critics of the U.S.-led coalition claimed that the "pre-emptive" change of regime in Baghdad could give India a pretext for trying a similar move against Islamabad.
Last December, however, Vajpayee and Musharraf, in a surprise meeting, agreed to negotiations designed not only to terminate the state of belligerence but also to bring the two nations together in a south-Asian "common market." The first round of talks, at foreign ministers’ level, will open later this month. And the world will be watching.
To be sure, this was not the first time that Indian and Pakistani leaders were coming together in a bid to ease tension. This time, however, a number of new factors have to be taken into account.
The first of these is the active, though behind-the-scenes, involvement of the United States. In the past two years, Islamabad and New Delhi have hosted countless visits by senior American officials who came to press for an end to the Kashmir dispute.
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In Pakistan, U.S. influence takes the shape of a $3 billion aid package, plus goodies for the armed forces, and the prospect of easier access to American markets for Pakistani exports. The second factor that lends more credibility to the current peace efforts is that, for the first time, the Pakistani leadership realizes that the armed groups it has created could, in the fashion of Frankenstein’s monster, turn against their creator.
Last December, however, Vajpayee and Musharraf, in a surprise meeting, agreed to negotiations designed not only to terminate the state of belligerence but also to bring the two nations together in a south-Asian "common market." The first round of talks, at foreign ministers’ level, will open later this month. And the world will be watching.
To be sure, this was not the first time that Indian and Pakistani leaders were coming together in a bid to ease tension. This time, however, a number of new factors have to be taken into account.
The first of these is the active, though behind-the-scenes, involvement of the United States. In the past two years, Islamabad and New Delhi have hosted countless visits by senior American officials who came to press for an end to the Kashmir dispute.
>>>
In Pakistan, U.S. influence takes the shape of a $3 billion aid package, plus goodies for the armed forces, and the prospect of easier access to American markets for Pakistani exports. The second factor that lends more credibility to the current peace efforts is that, for the first time, the Pakistani leadership realizes that the armed groups it has created could, in the fashion of Frankenstein’s monster, turn against their creator.
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