Although a military confrontation between India and Pakistan in the wake of the Nov. 26 militant attacks in Mumbai is not a foregone conclusion, the domestic situation within India and Islamabad's likely inability to placate Indian concerns make such a confrontation a possibility. Furthermore, U.S. strikes against Islamist militant facilities in Pakistan's northwestern tribal badlands and the North-West Frontier Province provide a precedent of sorts for India to take similar action across its northwestern border with Pakistan. So what can be expected in the event of an outbreak of hostilities? New Delhi is not interested in any major escalation and would likely prefer to limit the strikes to Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba are based. The United States has argued that Islamabad's writ is almost nonexistent in the Federally Administered Tribal Area; India can make a similar claim about Pakistan's Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).