Talks only way out to ease Pakistan, India tension: US

Islamabad asked to boost counter-terrorism efforts.

Published: Mon 26 Oct 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Mon 26 Oct 2015, 9:10 AM

Washington: The US believes Pakistan's tensions with India are best addressed through continued dialogue, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a Press breifing, Dawn reported on Sunday.
"Beyond that, they need to share information ... share cooperation."
"We've been very clear that India and Pakistan need dialogue. They need to continue to discuss with each other their mutual concerns about security and that they need greater engagement, because frankly, better dialogue, improved dialogue, greater cooperation between those two countries is important for all the security of the entire region," Toner said.
Toner also said that the US wants to see Pakistan's efforts against terrorism expand,
"We want to see those efforts expand. But it's such a complex dynamic," Toner said. "You've got Afghanistan and the Taleban's continued presence there on one side. You do have tensions with India, and those need to be addressed."
After a meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US President Barack Obama last week, both sides agreed on Thursday to take effective action against all terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to a joint statement issued after the meeting, Pakistan also agreed to ensure that all Taleban groups, including the Haqqani Network, "are unable to operate from the soil of Pakistan".
Speaking in Washington a day after talks with Obama, Sharif had said that Pakistan was ready to help Afghanistan revive peace talks with Taleban rebels.
However, while Sharif insisted that Pakistan has no interest in backing the Taleban's campaign of violence, he also said that Pakistan "cannot bring them to the table and be asked to kill them at the same time".
The premier also made clear that Pakistan's main priority was seeking international support to compel India to negotiate over the future of the disputed province of Kashmir.
Dossiers containing evidence of Indian involvement in subversive activities had been handed over to the United States side by Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and the Pakistan prime minister had on Wednesday also apprised United States Secretary of State John Kerry about the destabilising role being played by Indian intelligence agencies in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), Balochistan and Karachi.