US welcomes resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue

Washington, May 12 (PTI) The US has welcomed the
resumption of peace talks between India and Pakistan which
begin in Islamabad between the foreign ministers of two
countries in July, but said the pace and scope of it would
depend entirely on them.
"We always welcome dialogue and better relations
between India and Pakistan, but the pace, the scope and the
character of that dialogue is obviously of the Indian and
Pakistani governments to decide," Assistant Secretary of State
for Public Affairs P J Crowley said on Tuesday.
"But they do have some meetings coming up in the near
future. We certainly welcome that dialogue," Crowley said,
reiterating the traditional stand of the Obama Administration
that rules out any third-party mediation between the two South
Asian neighbours.
US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton have been encouraging both the countries to
talk to each other and reduce the tension between them through
talks.
Supporting India's view point, the Assistant Secretary
of State for South and Central Asia said last week that
terrorism poses a major obstacle to the peace talks between
the two countries and asked Pakistan to take action against
anti-India terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and
Jaish-e-Mohammed.
"We have a strong relationship with India. We have a
strong relationship with Pakistan. We have encouraged better
relations between the two countries.
But the nature of that relationship is ultimately up
to them. They are neighbours," Crowley told reporters in
response to a question at his daily press briefing. PTI LKJ
AHM


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