India+and+Pakistan

Fighting Terrorism and Putting an End to Nuclear Trade With India:

During the War  on Terror, the United States became increasingly concerned with the security of Pakistan, since Pakistan controls access to Afghanistan from the south and east. The Pakistan government argues that militants have turned on them because of their alliance with the United States, and if the alliance was broken, then they would have better relations with the militants. The possibility of a broken alliance with Pakistan was a concern to the United States,"[a]s far as the West is concerned, its principal objective is simply getting the Pakistanis to make good on their commitment to confront terrorism comprehensively. It is easy to understand why Pakistan won't. It is harder to understand why Pakistan, even now, cannot appreciate the risks to itself in its chosen course" (Tellis). Many were unsure of the decisions that Pakistan would make concerning the terrorism in the Middle East.

Getting Pakistan to agree to the terms the United States was putting forth would be a challenge, "[w]e want them to be a democracy, get along with India, be forthcoming on A. Q. Khan and their past nuclear program, have a world-class nuclear command and control system, be with us against al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban, and the Pakistani Taliban" (Cohen). Because of this, the United States has given a vast amount of money aid to Pakistan, but it was questioned if it was worth giving the money to Pakistan if they would not fully cooperate with the United States.

"If you remember, several years ago…Brajesh Mishra said the litmus test of the India-US relations will be what he called the trinity of issues -- civilian nuclear cooperation, space cooperation, and high technology transfers" (Inderfurth). These are the major issues with the India-US relationship, the main issue being nuclear trade with India. The Obama administration sees India as another rising global power in Asia, but Obama's main focus in India is not nuclear trade, unlike President Bush. Nuclear reactors and materials are not being sent to India from the United States, however, in the past, the United States has contributed to the growth of India's nuclear strength. President Obama wants to pursue non-proliferating objectives with India. President Obama also acknowledges the fact that both India and the United States face terrorist threats, so they must have a strong relationship in order to combat terrorism.