U.S., India and Pakistan

The New York Times reports as follows:

The Bush administration agreed today to sell Pakistan F-16 fighter planes in a major policy shift that was meant to reward Pakistan for its help in combating terrorism but was also certain to deeply antagonize Pakistan's longtime adversary India.

But the Times seems to have missed the other half of the story.

The United States unveiled plans to help India become a "major world power in the 21st century" even as it announced moves to beef up the military of New Delhi's nuclear rival, Pakistan.

Under the plans, Washington offered to step up a strategic dialogue with India to boost missile defence and other security initiatives as well as high-tech cooperation and expanded economic and energy cooperation.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has presented to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the Bush administration's outline for a "decisively broader strategic relationship" between the world's oldest and largest democracies, a senior US official said.

"Its goal is to help India become a major world power in the 21st century," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We understand fully the implications, including military implications, of that statement."

It is vitally important for the U.S. to have the strongest relationships possible with the nuclear powers of the Asian subcontinent (who, by the way, came dangerously close to using those weapons against each other in the late 1990s). Pakistan is a critical ally in the war against Islamofacism. India is a crucial counterweight to China, which has significantly increased its military spending recently and turned up the volume on its threats against Taiwan. Fortunately, the dramatic improvement in relations between Pakistan and India has made it possible (albeit not uncomplicated) for the U.S. to pursue efforts to improve military relations with both countries at the same time.