Prioritizing American Engagement

By Shamila N. Chaudhary

Shamila N. Chaudhary is a Senior South Asia Fellow at New America and Senior Advisor to Dean Vali Nasr at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. She worked at the White House as Director for Pakistan and Afghanistan on the National Security Council from 2010-2011. Prior to her tenure at the NSC, she served on the U.S. Department of State's Policy Planning Staff, where she advised Secretary Clinton and the late Ambassador Richard Holbrooke on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Recent efforts by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have resurrected the idea of rapprochement between India and Pakistan. So successful were these efforts that Pakistani militants felt compelled to stage an attack on an airbase in Indian Punjab early last month to derail them. From the perspective of U.S. policymakers—both in the administration looking to make the most of its final year in power, and among the presidential hopefuls looking to score political points—it will be tempting to prescribe actions that the United States should take in the region.

Here are three points of reference for the United States to focus on as it develops its policies towards South Asia, with an eye towards supporting India-Pakistan rapprochement.

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