Whatever chips Pakistans national security managers might try to play in an Afghan settlement have not rewarded Pakistan

in the past, and are unlikely to help Pakistan find a brighter future. Two generations of Pakistani strategic analysts have held the mirage that Afghanistan provides strategic depth, when the reverse has proven to be true. Pakistan has been destabilised by its own and by U . misadventures in Afghanistan, and could be destabilised further if !ndia gains a foothold there to use as a staging ground to support disaffection in "alochistan. A role reversal of this kind, mirroring !ndias decades#long misfortunes in $ashmir, could only multiply Pakistans domestic woes. A political settlement, if one can be found, will have to tackle this issue which, in turn, re%uires improved ties between Pakistan and !ndia. &awa' harif has great sympathy and support in Washington. The (bama administration will continue to provide assistance to tackle Pakistans economic, energy and internal security woes. )irst impressions in Washington, as in Pakistan, suggest a man hobbled by the immensity of his countrys problems and the obstacles that others so easily place in his path. *ast month, at the margins of U& +eneral Assembly speechmaking, he and !ndian Prime ,inister ,anmohan ingh promised to %uiet e-changes of fire across the $ashmir divide. These flares appear to outsiders as contrived to prevent &awa' from pursuing what he so clearly wants . improved relations and greater direct trade with !ndia. As long as firing across the $ashmir divide continues, it suggests opposition to this agenda, which is critical to Pakistans well#being. ,ore difficult, by orders of magnitude, will be taking action against e-tremists that are driving up Pakistans death toll. *eaving aside countries like yria which are in the throes of a civil war, Pakistan now ranks above Afghanistan, and second only to !ra%, in fatalities due to sectarian violence. The writer is co-founder of the Stimson Centre in Washington.