Book on Pakistan's ties with neighbours, US in August

Authored by Pakistans political and strategic analyst Shuja Nawaz, a new book "The Battle For Pakistan: The Bitter US Friendship and a Tough Neighborhood" will explore Pakistans complex relationship with the US, and its neighbours - India and Afghanistan.

The upcoming title, to be published in August for the Indian subcontinent, will help understand the US-Pakistan misalliance since 2008, publisher Penguin Random House India said in a statement on Friday.

The book will draw on the author's deep and first-hand knowledge of the region and the US, his numerous interactions and interviews with leading civil and military actors, and his access to key documentation.

"South Asia has the potential to become a fulcrum for global growth and stability - only if its leadership learns to create a connected neighbourhood.

"The US could play a critical role in this process, if it chooses to do so. Not just to counter real and imagined threats from the Asian neighbours of India and Pakistan, but also to benefit from the political and economic advantages of the world's largest potential market for its goods and services," the author, a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center in Washington, said in a statement.

"The Battle for Pakistan" identifies the potential dangers for a critical region of the world and offers suggestions for Pakistan and the US to create better policies that will benefit both of them and South Asia in general, the publisher said.

"Answering some critical questions -- Why can't Pakistan and the US trust each other? Will the US abandon Afghanistan yet again, leaving a mess for Pakistan to deal with? Why can't the US help India, Pakistan and Afghanistan learn to live and grow together? -- this book examines these and other centrifugal and centripetal issues," it said.

--IANS

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