Some Bush administration officials are worried India might take steps that could provoke conflict with Pakistan while the world is focused on the US anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan, officials said on Monday.
They said concern about relations between India and Pakistan was among the reasons for Secretary of State Colin Powell's trip to the two countries, expected later this week.
"There was real concern that the Indians, who are ticked off about what they think is excessive American indulgence of Pakistan, would do something over last weekend," said one official, without giving details.
In talks with Indians and Pakistanis, Powell will try to "keep them calm [and] make sure both sides understand neither will take advantage of the immediate circumstances," he said.
Another official played down specific concerns about India, saying "I think there are people all over the world, no doubt, who think this [anti-terror campaign] is a chance to push their agenda forward. I don't say India is at the top or bottom of this list."
He said Indian leaders "have said nothing to lead me to think" they would take provocative actions against Pakistan.
But the first official said "we were very worried" and stressed the historical pattern of India-Pakistan relations over the past 50 years underscored that "there was reason to be concerned."
South Asia expert Stephen Cohen said an Indian crackdown on Pakistan-backed militants in the disputed Himalayan province of Kashmir was one possibility.
An upcoming election in India could put pressure on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to get tough and assert a foreign policy independent of the US. "The Indians are restless," the Brookings Institution analyst added.
Balancing relations with India and Pakistan, nuclear rivals on a perpetually tense subcontinent, is one of the more complex tasks the US faces in its war on terrorism.
India and Pakistan have lined up behind the US-led anti-terror coalition, but tensions have risen over Muslim-majority Kashmir, a territory which both claim.
But US officials stressed their concerns about Pakistan's support for the Taliban, its lack of democracy and its purchase of missile technology from China.
Officials made clear they would no longer treat the two countries in tandem, raising fears in Islamabad that India had gained the upper hand with the US.
The Sept. 11 attacks changed all that, elevating Pakistan once again to the level of critical US ally.
Pakistan enjoyed that role in the Cold War when the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan and Washington and Islamabad joined to underwrite the anti-Soviet Afghan mujahidin guerrillas.
As it built its coalition in the past few weeks, the US lifted sanctions imposed on Pakistan and India for their nuclear programs. It offered millions of dollars in aid and debt relief for an extremely fragile Pakistani economy.
"The Indians feel very put upon and feel like we are giving the Pakistanis everything they want," a US official said.
India's economy is healthier than Pakistan's but the administration is "thinking hard" about ways to underscore ties with New Delhi, such as possible cooperation on missile defense, the official said.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf telephoned Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday to urge the two foes to cooperate against terrorism. But Vajpayee replied that Musharraf's government had failed to act against those responsible for "terrorism" in the disputed region of Kashmir, officials in New Delhi reported.
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