ABSTRACT
Chapter 9 examines the British High Commission’s role in crisis management during the decade 1998–2008. This commenced with the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests, witnessed the 2001–2002 standoff between the two nuclear weapons countries and ended with the threat of war following the November 2008 Mumbai bombings. Britain worked closely with both military and civilian leaders in an attempt to bring stability to the region which was at the forefront of the war on terror in the wake of 9/11. Back-channel diplomacy during the Musharraf Presidency brought a resolution of the Kashmir dispute tantalisingly close. The chapter reveals the High Commission’s assistance in Anglo-American attempts to enable Benazir Bhutto’s return home from exile in October 2007. It also draws attention to the close interaction between British and American diplomats in Pakistan. They operated in a heavily securitised environment. There were dramatic fluctuations in the High Commission’s staffing resulting from the changing security situation, in an overall context in which the mission had taken on immense diplomatic and strategic significance.
