US welcomes resumption of Pak-India dialogue

'In general, obviously, we [the US] think cooperation is a good thing,' says US State Department spokesperson

The United States on Saturday said it is ‘encouraged’ by the resumption of talks between Pakistan and India. At a daily news briefing, US State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said Washington ‘certainly welcomed the visit’ to Pakistan this week by India’s Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

“We certainly were encouraged that they decided to resume dialogue and obviously believe that both India and Pakistan stand to benefit from practical cooperation and an improved relationship, which I think would be good for regional peace and stability in South Asia,” Harf told reporters in Washington DC.

“In general, obviously, we [the US] think cooperation is a good thing,” she added.

Jaishankar’s visit to Islamabad saw the first senior-level diplomatic interaction between the two neighbours since their premiers met in New Delhi last May. Although India maintains the visit was a part of a tour of all Saarc nations, Islamabad saw it as a resumption of the foreign secretary-level talks from which New Delhi pulled out last August.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2015.