Next India-Pak crisis may escalate to N-levels: Expert

Stephen P Cohen, noted South Asia expert, who is a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution, and dealt with the Pakistani nuclear weapons programme during his stint in the Reagan administration's Policy Planning Council in the State Department, has warned that "there is a small but real possibility of the next India-Pakistan crisis escalating to nuclear levels." Cohen, testifying before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs' Subcommittee on International Security on the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and the US-Pakistan strategic relationship, predicted that "Pakistan may decide, as a matter of state policy, to extend a nuclear umbrella -- or engage in nuclear sharing -- with one of more Middle East states, especially if Iran acquires a nuclear device."