{
  "id": "RL32115",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL32115",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 104153,
      "date": "2003-10-17",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:36:03.105544",
      "title": "Missile Proliferation and the Strategic Balance in South Asia",
      "summary": "This report analyzes the policy implications of missile proliferation in South Asia, providing\ninformation on India's and Pakistan's missile programs and their role in regional security. The\nreport also provides background on the India-Pakistan conflict and the U.S. role, and reviews the\nregion's strategic security dynamics. The report concludes with a review of key issues and options\nfor U.S. policy.\n  The United States has long been concerned about the proliferation of nuclear weapons and their\ndelivery systems in South Asia. This concern became acute after May 1998, when both India and\nPakistan tested nuclear explosive devices. Since that time, both countries have continued testing\nnuclear-capable ballistic missiles, and both have established command and control authorities to\noversee their nuclear arsenals. India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947 and have\nsignificant unsettled territorial disputes. Although the status of weaponization is unclear, a\nslow-speed arms race appears to be underway on the Asian Subcontinent, and the proliferation of\nmissile capabilities in South Asia has been identified as a potentially major threat to regional stability\nand to key U.S. foreign policy goals.\n  A persistent aspect of U.S. engagement in the region has been the difficulty of maintaining a\nbalanced approach toward two antagonistic countries while simultaneously promoting perceived U.S.\ninterests. During the 1990s, U.S. security policy toward South Asia focused on preventing weapons\nproliferation, but the Bush Administration shifted to a more \"pragmatic\" approach emphasizing\n\"restraint\" in this area. For perhaps the first period in history the United States currently enjoys\nsimultaneously positive relations with both countries.\n  While relationships between the United States, India, and Pakistan have taken on a positive hue,\npotential for regional instability persists. The strategic capabilities of India and Pakistan could\nprovide a ready catalyst for transforming disputes or terrorist incidents into potentially cataclysmic\nconfrontations. Both countries also are pursuing the development or acquisition of missile defense\nsystems. It is unknown at this early stage if missile defenses will offer a degree of stability to the\nregion or if they will create an imbalance, thus prompting the other country to build more missiles\nto compensate for the disparity.\n  Key issues for Congress addressed in this report are the extent to which missile proliferation\nin South Asia enhances or upsets regional stability and the role of U.S. policy in promoting such\nstability, as well as in tension reduction and nonproliferation. Levels of U.S. foreign assistance to\nIndia and Pakistan, the establishment of aid restrictions, the transfer of conventional weapons\nplatforms (possibly including missile defense systems), the setting of export control parameters and\nnonproliferation goals, and the maintenance of policy and intelligence oversight of U.S. relations\nwith India and Pakistan constitute additional issues of concern to Congress. This report will be\nupdated as warranted by events.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Foreign Affairs",
    "Intelligence and National Security",
    "National Defense"
  ]
}