Bill Clinton really didn't want to get involved, not in another Asian hot spot, not over another disputed province, Kashmir. But when Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif flew to Washington last month to plead for U.S. help, the president decided that relations between the world's two newest nuclear powers, India and Pakistan, were so edgy they needed closer attention. His concern grew last week, when Indian MiG-21s shot down a Pakistani plane, killing 16. Though U.S. officials deny they are "mediating"—India refuses to consider Kashmir an international issue—Clinton plans to visit South Asia early next year to take what he calls a "personal interest" in resolving the tensions. Sharif got his wish— and his man.
展开▼
