WASHINGTON, Aug 16: The United States has described its relationship with India as “the best it has been in the history of the two countries” but has also admitted that there are some ‘issues’ with both India and Pakistan.
“Today, in terms of the region, with India, I think that our relationship is the best that it’s been in the history of the two countries. We have a programme for moving forward on that relationship,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters at a briefing. With Pakistan, he said: “We are working very closely with President Pervez Musharraf on a variety of issues — fighting terrorism, supporting his efforts at economic and political reform in the region.”
Mr McCormack said: “If you look back to where we have been, where we were five years ago in our relationships (with both countries), I think that you can see a dramatic improvement.”
This improvement, he said, did not mean that the relationships were ‘without issues’ or that the region was ‘without challenges.’ “Certainly, they are there. But I think that we are working very closely with Pakistan, we are working very closely with India and as well as other countries in the region to address those issues,” he said.
The spokesman disagreed with the suggestion that India and Pakistan could resort to arms for resolving their differences. “The answer to any differences between any countries in the region, or for that matter around the world, the first answer is not a resort to arms; it’s a resort to political dialogue,” he said. He said the international community had seen a commitment from both India and Pakistan to resolving their differences through dialogue. “And we certainly encourage continuation of that dialogue as well as progress in resolving any differences that may exist between India and Pakistan,” he added.
