India-Pak Talks Depend on Islamabad Countering Terrorism

New York: The US would like to see India and Pakistan have “constructive conversation” leading to better relations, but that would depend on Islamabad cracking down on terrorism, according to a top US diplomat for South Asia.

The Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, Alice Wells, said on Thursday that the conditions for talks between the nuclear-armed neighbors hinges on “Pakistan’s seriousness of effort in ensuring that groups don’t take advantage and engage in cross-border infiltration, that there are serious steps to implement the Financial Action Task Force action plan that Pakistan has committed to, and which includes the prosecution of UN-designated terrorists”. “So whether it’s Hafiz Saeed who currently is in custody and under prosecution, but also leaders of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) like Masood Azhar, who long have been able to exploit their presence on Pakistani soil,” it has to take action, she added.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan “has been very explicit that that is his intention and his objective” to take these steps, Wells said.

If that happens, “can we then see a reduction in tensions between the two countries and productive engagement between the two?”

She said that President Donald Trump “has a strong relationship with the leaders of both India and Pakistan, and the world would benefit from reduced tensions and increased dialogue between the two countries. And given these factors, the president is willing to mediate if asked by both parties”.

About Khan’s “strong statements”, she said: “I would say in general across the region, a lowering of rhetoric would be welcome, particularly between two nuclear powers.” During her media briefing on the US diplomacy during the UN General Assembly session, she touched on the human rights situation in Kashmir. Wells said that members of Congress have raised the human rights issues in letters to the administration and Congress has called for testimony on human rights in South Asia. (IANS)

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