ISLAMABAD -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Armitage, concluding his visit to India and Pakistan, extended Washington's support for a new peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors without a direct role for the United States in settling the drawn out dispute over the divided Himalayan state of Kashmir.
Even for the U.S., the world's lone superpower, there are limits to the extent it can twist arms and force countries to the negotiating table.
The history of the Indo-Pakistani dispute over predominantly Muslim Kashmir -- one-third of which is under Pakistani control with a tiny slice under Chinese administration and the rest governed by India -- is enough to discourage third-party involvement, as it carries the risk of further complicating an already complex situation, fueled by Indo-Pakistani tensions.