A Critical Evaluation of the Mediatory Role Played by the United States in the India-Pakistan Conflict

Abstract

Throughout the Cold War, the US, a strategic ally of Pakistan, forced India to accept the settlement of the Kashmir issue through political will, diplomacy, and economic measures. However, in the post-Cold War era, the US role changed from conflict resolution to crisis management, including defusing tension between the two adversaries. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has taken up that position and given Pakistan and India a way to end the long-running dispute in Kashmir. As a result, this study concludes that the US's desire to mediate has altered as a result of geopolitical and geostrategic objectives in South Asia, such as the Cold War's strategic conflicts between the US and the Soviet Union and the US's subsequent encirclement of China. This essay also examines the US's attempts at mediation throughout the Cold War and why those efforts were unsuccessful. In addition, how did the US's mediation role affect India's Kashmir policies throughout the Cold War and after? Finally, despite Pakistan's involvement in the US-Taliban peace process in Afghanistan, this study examines the main reasons why the US is politically motivated to end the India-Pakistan conflict.