Chapter VIII. Develop Agendas for Cooperative Action with the Other Main Centers of Global
Power
Section C. The Way Ahead - 6. South and Central Asia
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South and Central Asia is a region of great strategic importance where American interests
and values are engaged as never before. India is a great democracy, and our shared
values are the foundation of our good relations. We are eager to see Pakistan move along
a stable, secure, and democratic path. Our goal is for the entire region of South and
Central Asia to be democratic, prosperous, and at peace.
We have made great strides in transforming America's relationship with India, a major
power that shares our commitment to freedom, democracy, and rule of law. In July 2005,
we signed a bold agreement a roadmap to realize the meaningful cooperation that had
eluded our two nations for decades. India now is poised to shoulder global obligations in
cooperation with the United States in a way befitting a major power.
Progress with India has been achieved even as the United States has improved its
strategic relationship with Pakistan. For decades, outsiders acted as if good relations with
India and Pakistan were mutually exclusive. This Administration has shown that
improved relations with each are possible and can help India and Pakistan make strides
toward a lasting peace between themselves. America's relationship with Pakistan will
not be a mirror image of our relationship with India. Together, our relations with the
nations of South Asia can serve as a foundation for deeper engagement throughout
National Security Strategy 39
Central Asia. Increasingly, Afghanistan will assume its historical role as a land-bridge
between South and Central Asia, connecting these two vital regions.
Central Asia is an enduring priority for our foreign policy. The five countries of Central
Asia are distinct from one another and our relations with each, while important, will
differ. In the region as a whole, the elements of our larger strategy meet, and we must
pursue those elements simultaneously: promoting effective democracies and the
expansion of free-market reforms, diversifying global sources of energy, and enhancing
security and winning the War on Terror.
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