17 April 2004	Saturday	26 Safar 1425

NEW YORK, April 16: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday US military ties with Pakistan and India have improved underscoring "we value our relationship with each country."

At a press briefing in Pentagon on the situation in Iraq, Mr Rumsfeld was asked to evaluate the relationship between the United States and the two South Asian neighbours after Washington granted an elite ally status to Pakistan last month.

"We value our relationship with each country," Mr Rumsfeld said. "They're different countries and our relationships are slightly different. "And in each case, we value them," he stressed. However, Mr Rumsfeld refused to be drawn in a discussion on the issue, asserting "But I think trying to grade them in some way wouldn't be useful."

Mr Rumsfeld said the United States had an "increasingly close relationship" with India and Pakistan and was "extremely pleased" they had moved towards reducing tensions that have existed for decades.

He said that there was also an increase in closeness in the "military-to-military and defence-to-defence relationship" with each of those countries.