ABSTRACT
On May 16 the White House announced that a special envoy, Robert Gates, the deputy national security advisor, would be sent to South Asia. The Gates mission was to be in Pakistan and India on May 19-21. A White House spokesman said that the United States had urged all concerned to take steps to restore calm and security and to allow political dialog to address the problem of Kashmir in the hope that India and Pakistan, both friends of the United States, would work together to reduce tension. The spokesman emphasized President Bush’s deep concern over the build-up of the crisis. The president, he said, had been talking with the Indian and Pakistani leadership for months but now (May 16), as the situation had deteriorated, a special White House envoy would be able to obtain a more realistic and accurate assessment.8
