With regard to Pakistan, Congressional attention is likely to remain focused on the programming and potential further conditioning of US foreign assistance, including that related to security and counter-terrorism.

Referring to Obama’s remarks, before the Mumbai attacks, that reconciliation between India and Pakistan would be a “key foreign policy goal” of his administration, the report said: “Renewed tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad could easily derail such a track while simultaneously intensifying pressure on the US to facilitate regional conflict resolution.”

As for Pakistan, the report said, the Mumbai attacks have brought sharp attention to the ongoing problem of Islamist terrorism that emanates from this country. Zardari faces the difficult task of avoiding open conflict with India while at the same time not alienating Pakistan’s powerful military and intelligence services, it observed.