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The US and India share mutual interests:
1. They have no desire to see a resurgence of fundamentalist Islam in the region.
2. The both have a stake in the survival of the Musharraf government.
The alternatives to Musharraf are not better, and a collapse could result in a radical fundamentalist government in possesion of a nuclear arsenal. Therefore crises between Pakistan and India must be avoided, Musharraf would not survive an unfavorable result of a conflict.
3. Both countries also do not desire to seek hegemony by any Asian power on the continent.
India should not stake its security on appeals for nuclear disarmament from powers that already posses them. The subcontinent has a long history of nuclear rivalry dating from China's detonation in 1964.
India does not need our permission to become a nuclear power, it already is. The US must be pragmatic, dealing with the realities of the region, not with how we think it should be. The Asia subcontinent consists of powers with regional and global aspirations. The US must seek to channel these aspirations within a stable world order that is conducive to prosperity and peace.
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