US asks India to improve relations with Pakistan

Expressing appreciation for India’s economic cooperation with Afghanistan, the United States (US) called on New Delhi to improve its often uneasy relations with neighbouring Pakistan in the interest of regional stability.
The comments in Washington came as its chief diplomat John Kerry concluded a visit to India, which the US State Department described as “very good.”
Asked to elaborate US Secretary of State Kerry’s comments during his visit to New Delhi on India playing a key role in Afghanistan, a state department spokesman indicated that Kerry’s remarks referred to Delhi’s economic cooperation with Afghanistan.
“Well, the secretary thinks, and what we think more broadly in the US government, is that certainly, especially with economic cooperation with Afghanistan – India inside of Afghanistan, that it’s been very positive,” US State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said at a daily briefing.
At the same time, Ventrell noted the importance of regional stability and the need for India to repair its relations with Pakistan.
“We’re certainly welcoming and want there to be greater regional stability, for India to have a better relationship with Pakistan, for India to have a good relationship with Afghanistan. So we welcome all that,” he said.
During his visit to New Delhi, as part of his Asia trip, Kerry said he expected a new era in India-Pakistan relations as he acknowledged Islamabad’s efforts for regional peace.
“I know there’s a lot of history to the relationship between India and Pakistan, so I’m not naïve about some of the difficulties, particularly after talking to leaders of both nations. However, I believe that a new dynamic is beginning to emerge, and that it can develop further,” he said over the weekend.
The two South Asian countries have had tense relations during most of their existence since the 1947 independence from Britain, mainly owing to the unresolved but internationally accepted Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
In New Delhi, Kerry also noted in remarks on US-India Strategic Dialogue that “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has stated clearly that his chief goal is his country’s economic revival.”
“And that is a goal that India and the United States share. The fact is that in this age of globalisation, of expanded connectivity all across the world, we’ve created a broad-based realisation that both countries, India and Pakistan, can gain substantially from expanding economic ties and breaking down the old barriers, and changing history. All in all, this presents a tremendous opportunity for progress. It could be a beginning of a new era for India-Pakistan relations that could be built on mutually beneficial trade, and out of that, hopefully, could come a level of trust,” Kerry said.