Election outcome in India has potential for trouble

As if it didn't have enough on its plate with Iraq and the global war on terrorism, the Bush administration has now been served a heaping portion of political uncertainty with the surprising outcome of parliamentary elections in India, the world's largest democracy.
The defeat of the National Democratic Alliance coalition, the subsequent resignation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and the victory of the Congress party, led by Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, could not have come at a more inopportune time.
India and its long-time rival, Pakistan, have only recently stopped rattling their sabers -- read that nuclear weapons -- and begun to talk peace.
Given the deep-seated religious hatred that has existed between predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan for almost 50 years, a lessening of tensions is a global imperative.
With extremists in both countries fomenting unrest, India and Pakistan, which share a border and have fought three wars over the disputed region of Kashmir, cannot be permitted to walk away from the negotiating table.
America's ally
The Bush administration, which has publicly embraced Pakistan and its president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, as an important ally in the war on terrorism, must play an active role in the peace talks.
The initial response from Washington to the election in India is encouraging. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the administration would keep urging the two countries to settle their differences through diplomacy.
& quot;We've had excellent relations with India, and we look forward to continuing those relations, & quot; Boucher said.
Pakistan expressed confidence that the peace process would not be derailed, and Gandhi, who led the Congress party to victory, made it clear that her government would not change course.
& quot;From the very beginning, we've been supporting the prime minister's initiatives vis-a-vis Pakistan, & quot; said the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, who served as prime minister from 1984 until 1989. He was assassinated two years later.
His mother, Indira Gandhi, was prime minister from 1964 until 1984 when she was assassinated by her bodyguards. Indira Gandhi's father, Jawaharal Nehru, was India's first prime minister, taking the reins of power in 1947, when India achieved independence from Britain. Independence brought about the partition of the Hindu and Muslim dominated regions, with Kashmir as the flashpoint.
Foreign born
Sonia Gandhi, as leader of the Congress party, overcame the campaign charge that she was not a true Indian because she was born in Italy and grew up a Roman Catholic.
Nonetheless, her promise to address the needs of the millions of poor people in the rural areas resonated with the voters.
But given the history of the Gandhi political dynasty, it would be foolhardy to believe that Sonia Gandhi is not in danger. Should harm befall her, India would once again be thrown into political turmoil, paving the way to a possible takeover by Hindu extremists who do not support peace with Pakistan. Nuclear weapons in the hands of such individuals would be devastating.
That is why the Bush administration must not only strongly embrace the new government in New Delhi, but become an active participant in the peace process.