Robert Oakley, former US ambassador to Pakistan, now with the National Defence University, Washington, had succeeded Arnold Raphel who perished in the August 1988 plane crash that killed Pakistan president General Zia-ul-Haq. In the elections that followed, he donned the role of kingmaker and negotiated with the army to allow Benazir Bhutto to assume power. On a recent visit to Delhi, he talked to Sunil Narula about the American policy regarding India and Pakistan.