Deputy National Security Adviser at the White House Ben Rhodes has said that the United States does not view its relationships with India and Pakistan at the expense of each other.
“It’s important that we make clear, and the [US] President did last time when he went to India [in 2010], that we don’t view these relationships as taking place at the expense of the other. That we can have a good relationship with India and we can have a good relationship with Pakistan,” Rhodes was quoted in the Press Trust of India report.
“Frankly, that’s in the interest of all the three countries,” he added.
President Barack Obama arrives in India this weekend for an unprecedented second visit by a serving US president, the honoured guest of his new friend Narendra Modi who was a Washington outcast before winning the elections in India only a year ago
After Jimmy Carter, Obama is the only US president who has not visited Pakistan while on a trip to India.
Obama had not visited Pakistan during his first trip to India in November 2010 and also skipped a scheduled visit in 2011 owing to several sensitive bilateral issues.
“I think both countries have acknowledged that. But we’ve moved on. Recently, Secretary [of State] John Kerry was able to visit Pakistan. He was able to visit Peshawar, where the horrific terrorist attack took place. We are able to have a strategic dialogue with the Pakistanis,” Rhodes said.
“We believe that that relationship (with Pakistan) is on the uptick. It is as good as it has been in years. So we feel confident about our high-level engagement,” Rhodes said. The US has encouraged India and Pakistan to resolve their bilateral issues by pursuing a peace dialogue, and has been very supportive of that process, he added.
