Washington, Oct 31: The United States needs to pay more high-level attention Indo-Pak tension or face the prospect of crises in the region that could present a major threat to US interests, a report said yesterday.
The report, co-sponsored by the prestigious Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society, warns the administration of President George W. Bush that India and Pakistan must be seen as foreign policy priorities as "dark shadows" have descended across South Asia.
It also highlights that reconstruction in Afghanistan has stalled, partly due to the worsening security situation outside Kabul.
"Given the dangers inherent in festering India-Pakistan rivalry, the United States should become more active in trying to help the two nuclear-armed enemies manage their differences," the report recommends.
"Their hostility, and its most neuralgic point, the dispute over Kashmir, remains the gravest threat to regional peace and US interests," it warned.
Underlining Pakistan's instability amid "entrenched Islamist extremisim," the report urged the US Congress to speed a proposed three billion dollar economic and security aid package requested by the White House to Pakistan.
Bureau Report
