WSHINGTON, Feb 23: US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told a joint briefing with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Friday that the United States and India do not have a joint approach towards Pakistan.

Mr Menon also stressed the need for “good neighbourly” relations with Pakistan and noted that the two countries now have a mechanism to pursue this goal.

Mr Burns used a question about the status of democracy in South Asia to emphasise Washington’s relationship with Islamabad, declaring: “Pakistan is one of our most important partners worldwide in this fight against Al Qaeda, against the Taliban.”

He then added that the United States had a “strategic cooperation” with President Gen Pervez Musharraf and a “strategic partnership” with India too but America’s relationship with one was not at the expense of its ties with the other.

“I don’t think it is accurate to say that India and the United States have a joint approach towards Pakistan.”

Mr Burns said that one of the successes of the Bush administration’s foreign policy has been the de-hyphenation of America’s relations with the two South Asian nations.

He referred to President Bush’s visit to the region early last year, recalling that he visited India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and stressed the need to have close relations with all.

Indian Foreign Secretary Menon, who is in Washington for talks with US officials on the Indo-US nuclear deal, noted that India-Pakistan relationship is evolving rapidly.