The United States (US) State Department has underscored Washington’s support for high-level dialogue between India and Pakistan as the prime ministers of the two South Asian neighbours are expected to meet later this month in New York.
Commenting on the deteriorated state of Pakistan-India relations, with the decade-long ceasefire along the Line of Control being shattered with repeated crossfire in the disputed Kashmir region, US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said, “We will encourage and have encouraged further dialogue between India and Pakistan on a range of issues. We would welcome any and all high-level discussions.”
She said US ambassadors in Islamabad and New Delhi “have made this point (of dialogue), and we have made it publicly as well”.
However, she did not disclose details of the discussions.
“I’m not going to get into the details of what those discussions might look like. That’s for India and Pakistan to talk about together,” Harf said.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is expected to meet his Indian counterpart, Manmohan Singh, on the sidelines of the September 29 United Nations General Assembly session and are expected to address recent tensions and find ways to put peace moves between the two countries back on track.
Top Pakistani and Indian officials, including National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz and Indian External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on Friday during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, also indicated that the political leaders of the two countries would be exploring prospects to repair the damage in bilateral relations.