Washington, Nov. 9 : A former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan has called on U. S. President-elect Barack Obama to deal quickly with the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.

“India has resisted U. S. mediation on Kashmir in the past, but the growing U. S.-India strategic relationship may now make American involvement possible,” The News quoted Meghan O’Sullivan, as saying in an article for a foreign newspaper.

“One intriguing model for Kashmir is the 1998 Belfast agreement, which established a web of overlapping institutions that have allowed the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland to, in effect, share sovereignty over Northern Ireland—and end decades of deep-seated violence,” he said.

In case of Kashmir, the United Nations Security Council has called for the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination under U. N. auspices, a verdict India has all along defied.

On the eve of Election Day, Obama made two significant statements on Kashmir. He called for the United States to help resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute, and then indicated that he might consider appointing ex-president Bill Clinton as a special envoy on the issue.

In his opinion piece, O’Sullivan, said, “President-elect Obama must deal quickly and boldly with Afghanistan. But doing so will require an early initiative to help Pakistan and India settle their differences on Kashmir.

The problems of Afghanistan and Pakistan are inseparable. But Pakistan’s ability to deal with Taliban and other extremists on its western border is hampered by its preoccupation with India, its traditional adversary to the east.” (ANI)