The War Against Terrorism and George W. Bush’s Policy On Kashmir

Abstract

The war against terrorism made Pakistan strategically important for the US policy makers. Pakistan joined the US led coalition against its former ally Taliban regime in Afghanistan to safeguard its national interests in a radically altered international scenario. The warm relationship between Pakistan and the United States was not acceptable to India; it tried to use 9/11 in its favour and presented itself as a victim of terrorism. A series of apparently inexplicable happenings, both in the Indian controlled state of Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi soon brought South Asia to the brink of a nuclear confrontation. Kashmir emerged in the center of this conflict between Pakistan and India where the separatist militancy suddenly became so explosive that it barged the way to the threat of nuclear war and prompted intense international diplomacy.