Washington:The United States supports direct dialogue between India and Pakistan, a senior administration official said on Wednesday. "As we have long said, we support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern. That has long been our position," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily news conference.
He was responding to a question which sought to know what would be the message to the leadership of both countries after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said his country is ready to talk to India on bilateral problems if India is willing to address serious matters.
There has been continued strain in ties between India and Pakistan on a number of issues including Islamabad's continued support to cross-border terrorism and the Kashmir issue. India has been maintaining that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan while insisting that the onus is on Islamabad to create an environment that is free of terror and hostility for such an engagement. India has also asserted that Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and will" always be part of the country.
Miller's remarks came two days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif offered to hold talks with India to address all serious and outstanding issues. Bilateral relations between Islamabad and New Delhi have been tense since August 2019 when India changed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
On India's ties with Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that it is not possible for India to have normal relations with the neighbouring country until the policy of cross-border terrorism is abrogated.
"We can't allow terrorism to be normalised; we can not allow that to become the basis for getting us into discussions with Pakistan. To me it is a fairly common sense proposition," he said in June.
I2U2 & India- On the progress of the I2U2 economic forum and summit outcome, Miller said the work on those fronts continues. "You’ve seen the under secretary speak to it on a number of occasions; the National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has spoken to it, as has the Secretary. I – we are in steadfast – we are – remain committed to our work to deepen the Abraham Accords and forge new coalitions like I2U2."
The unique grouping of countries in this partnership – India, Israel, the United States, and the UAE – identifies projects and initiatives to tackle some of the greatest challenges confronting the world. It’s attempting to mobilize private sector and enterprise to modernize infrastructure, advance low-carbon development pathways, improve public health, and we continue to work to make progress in all of those areas, Miller said.
Being pressed to answer what India's role would be in this case, Miller said the role of India is a member of I2U2.
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