Part of the problem lies in the US failure to stay focused on the goal of convincing Pakistan to crack down on terrorists that attack India. 'The US should have reacted more strongly to the release from jail of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi last year and pressured Pakistan over its failure to prosecute the Mumbai attackers, says Lisa Curtis.

Curtis, a former diplomat in the US embassies in India and Pakistan, has been an analyst for the CIA, senior adviser to the assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs in the George W Bush administration and has testified before the US Congress on about 20 occasions on topics related to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Islamist extremism and America's image abroad.

Read Archana Masih's interview with Curtis here.