Given the kind of aggression the military displayed over Kashmir, some wonder if there may be further reason to worry about the coup in Islamabad. Both Pakistan and India have demonstrated the ability to detonate and launch nuclear weapons. But Pentagon officials remain calm. So I don't think that anything should change based on the events that we see taking place. After Pakistan detonated a bomb in May 1998, U.S. economic sanctions were imposed, helping to make a weak economy even worse.
Coups regularly erupt in Pakistan, even in good times.
This is the fourth takeover in the last five decades, and the people have always managed to roll with the punches. Coups are a just a tragic part of Pakistan's history, so this is not a seismic shift. What remains to be seen is how the always-tense relations between Pakistan and India may change. That really adds to the possibility of miscalculation. As senators wrestled over the nuclear test ban treaty on Capitol Hill, the possibility of more hostilities between the two South Asian neighbors offered another argument for ratifying the global agreement.