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Peace between India, Pak, key to
a stable S Asia, says Cohen: PTI

The United States has said that stability in South Asia could be achieved only if India and Pakistan established lasting peace and exercised restraint on nuclear and missile programmes.

Stability in South Asia "depends on improved relations between India and Pakistan and restraint on the part of both countries in their military confrontation, particularly with respect to their missile and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons policies and practices," Defence Secretary William Cohen said.

"Developing successful counters to terrorism is also a major objective for the region," he said in a report to Congress on American defence strategy.

He said the regions cannot be stable until there is a peaceful resolution to Indo-Pakistani disputes and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Arabs and Israelis.

"Sovereignty issues and territorial disputes remain sources of tension, with the most serious potential consequences in East Asia and South Asia," Cohen, who leaves office when the Bush administration takes over, said.

The US seeks a South Asia and Middle East at peace "where access to strategic and natural resources at stable prices is unhindered, where no hostile power is able to exercise de facto hegemony and where free markets are expanding."

Until South Asia's non-proliferation issues are "satisfactorily resolved, the US military's role in the region will focus on supporting multinational efforts to non-proliferation norms.

Cohen said some states will continue to threaten the territorial sovereignty of others in regions critical to US interests.

"Although most instances of cross-border conflict may remain small-scale in nature, chances of escalation or the involvement of neighbouring states poses increased risk."

It is entirely possible that within a generation, more than one aspiring regional power will have the motivation and means to pose a sizeable military threat to the US, he said.

In Southwest Asia, Iraq continued to pose a threat to neighbours and to the free flow of oil in the region. In East Asia, North Korea remained a significant military threat despite its dire economic and humanitarian conditions and its recent initial steps towards reconciliation with the outside world, he said. Stability also cannot be achieved until Iraq, Iran and Libya abide by international norms and no longer threatened regional security.

"The continuing proliferation in the region of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and long-range missiles, particularly in the hands of States of Concern (formerly called rogue states), is inherently destabilising and must be brought under control," Cohen said.

The US will also encourage participation by regional parties, where appropriate, in peace operations to help resolve international conflicts and promote regional co-operation, Cohen said.

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