Spectrum

The recent conflict between Pakistan and India makes an already volatile region of South Asia even more unstable. Over the past two weeks, the two countries have battled with air strikes into each country provoked by a suicide bombing that killed 40 people in India on February 14. It was executed by a terrorist from the often contested Kashmir region. This rare use of air power is a major concern because both of these neighboring countries are nuclear powers, says Michael Kugelman, a leading specialist of Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan and their relationships with the United States. Kugelman is the Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. He is an author, editor, and contributor to major media outlets around the world. The area of conflict is the Kashmir region controlled by India but always in dispute between the two countries and the indigenous population of the region. The stability of this area is