US supports Pakistan, India talks

Reuters/IslamabadWelcoming the announcement of future engagement between India and Pakistan, US has said it supports all steps between the two governments to strengthen their dialogue and co-operation.The US welcomed the meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on sidelines of SCO Summit in Ufa, Russia “and their announcement of future engagement between India and Pakistan”, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters on Friday.“We also welcome the announcement that India and Pakistan will discuss a range of bilateral issues, including security, people-to-people ties and expediting the Mumbai trial,” he said.“And we support all steps between the governments of India and Pakistan to strengthen their dialogue and co-operation,” Toner said.Asked how the US viewed the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation’s move to commence the process of granting India and Pakistan full membership, he said: “I’d refer you to India and Pakistan for a reaction to that or for the reasons why they’ve chosen to join that group.”In reply to another question, Toner said the State Department does not agree with the assessment of Gen. Joseph Dunford, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Russia currently poses the greatest global threat to the US.As State Department spokesman John Kirby spelled out Thursday, “We certainly recognize the challenges that Russia, primarily through its actions in Ukraine, poses to the region,” he said.US had taken many steps to address those challenges, Toner said, “But I would add that the Secretary (of State John Kerry) doesn’t agree with the assessment that Russia is an existential threat to the United States, nor China, quite frankly.”“These are major powers with whom we engage and cooperate on a number of issues despite any disagreements we may have with them,” Toner said. “And those issues include, frankly, Iran and others - Syria, other issues around the world.”“I would just say what the Secretary does consider an existential threat is the rapid growth of extremist groups like ISIL, particularly in ungoverned spaces,” he said.“Certainly, we have disagreements with Russia and its activities along or within the region, but we don’t view it as an existential threat,” Toner said.‘Modi has tried to improve ties with Pakistan’Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to improve ties with Pakistan, said a leading daily which noted that Modi’s meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif has produced “several specific breakthroughs”.An editorial in the Dawn yesterday over the meeting that took place on Friday between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Modi in Russia said that “progress in the India-Pakistan relationship depends on whether the political leadership is invested in it”.“Sharif clearly is, but has not demonstrated the ability to convince other institutions, particularly the army, of the imperative to improve ties. Meanwhile, Modi has actually done the opposite of seeking to improve ties,” it said.The daily said that both sides need to demonstrate they aren’t talking just to show the outside world that they are.The editorial said that Friday’s meeting “produced several specific breakthroughs that must surely be welcomed in the context of a deteriorating regional security and diplomatic climate”.“The headlines will focus on Modi accepting the Pakistani premier’s invitation to attend next year’s Saarc summit in Islamabad and if the visit does take place, it would be worth a great deal of symbolism at least, given that Modi’s predecessor Manmohan Singh was unable to visit in his 10 years as prime minister despite ardently wanting to,” it said.The daily added: “There is reason to hope the visit will actually take place because Modi has made furthering regional relationships, especially with Saarc countries, a foreign policy priority, even if that approach has thus far tended to exclude Pakistan.”It noted that a refusal to attend the Saarc summit would also deal a significant blow to the organisation, setting it back even further. “Yet, there is, as always, many a slip between cup and lip in the India-Pakistan relationship.”The daily went on to say that the decision to focus on how to further the Mumbai-related anti-terrorism trial in Rawalpindi and the mention of specific potential evidence such as the provision of voice samples is also a positive shift from the status quo.