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On behalf of the Subcommittee, I would like to welcome Assistant Secretary Rocca and Ambassador Chamberlin to the first of what we hope will be many conversations with the Administration and others on South Asia. As my colleagues are aware, all of South Asia with the exception of Afghanistan was returned to the Subcommittee’s jurisdiction for the 108^th Congress.

The hearing today is intended to provide an overview of United States policy toward a region that has sharply risen in prominence for American policymakers in the aftermath of the events of September 11. Although South Asia remains one of the world’s most volatile regions, the United States can point to a number of diplomatic achievements in recent years.

The United States has forged a new relationship with Pakistan that has produced increasingly significant results in the campaign against terrorism, for which America is most grateful, and helped bring stability to Afghanistan. In a welcome departure from previous historical experience, the rekindling of close ties with Pakistan has not come at the expense of our relations with India, which have strengthened and warmed to a degree unimaginable five or ten years ago. American diplomacy was also instrumental in facilitating a peaceful resolution of the tense Indo-Pakistani crisis a year ago that so nearly brought the Subcontinent to the brink of military conflict. In Sri Lanka, Deputy Secretary of State Armitage has been personally engaged in lending U.S. support to the ongoing cease-fire and hopeful peace process. Likewise, in strife-torn Nepal, the Administration has expanded essential development assistance while simultaneously strengthening the capacity of Royal Nepal Army to contain the Maoist threat.

Before we turn to our witnesses, I would like to make the following points:

At all times, but particularly at this critical moment, American cultural and public diplomacy needs to be attuned to the fact that a quarter of the world’s Muslim’s live in South Asia. India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan each have more than a 130 million Muslims, and Pakistan is the only modern state founded explicitly as a homeland for Muslims.

The U.S. needs to have a sustainable strategy for helping to facilitate a process that can foster political reconciliation between India and Pakistan. Without a serious effort to bridge the Indo-Pakistani divide, the region may yet stumble into the nuclear abyss.