Every few years, foreign policy establishments in Washington and London get down to brass tacks and try to find answers to the perennial instability in South Asia. And every time the bright minds ignore the evidence staring them in the face and conclude that it is India that is a large part of the problem.
It is happening again as the West prepares to leave Afghanistan and wants a convenient alibi as to why the situation in Afghanistan is so difficult to resolve. This time it is William Dalrymple who churns out this strategic absurdity in his essay for the Brookings Institute. He writes: "The hostility between India and Pakistan lies at the heart of current war in Afghanistan."
His is not a solitary voice. The West is once again ready to buy, lock, stock and barrel into the Pakistani line that sorting out Kashmir is the way to final peace in Afghanistan.