December 17, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 18, 1429

WASHINGTON, Dec 16: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged India and Pakistan to continue to cooperate in bringing perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice and in ensuring that such incidents are not repea-ted.

“It is only important, that the parties need to focus on and I think we are focusing on both bringing the perpetrators to justice and prevention of any follow on attacks,” she told journalists after attending a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet at the UN headquarters in New York.

She made that statement in reply to a question on the heightened tension between the two South Asian nations following the incursion of the Indian fighter planes into Pakistani airspace on Saturday.

Ms Rice emphasised that the United States had made its position clear that the two countries should continue to cooperate in bringing those responsible for the terrorist attacks to justice.

In an interview to the Associated Press, Ms Rice opted not to give a categorical answer when asked which the most dangerous region in the world was: the Middle East or South Asia.

She, however, said it was not the Middle East.

“I actually think the Middle East is far better in this regard than it was when we (the Bush administration) came, on many fronts, whether it’s the Palestinian-Israeli side or Iraq or the fact that Saudi Arabia,” she said.

“I think the Middle East is far less the place from which there are threats. Now, yes, there are problems in other parts of the world.”

Secretary Rice said the United States was talking to Pakistan to ensure the security of supplies to the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

The United States uses the Pakistan route for supplying its troops but recently convoys carrying the supplies have come under frequent attacks from Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents who last week burned scores of trucks.

“We have worked out some arrangements with the Russians through Nato that are helpful in this regard,” said Ms Rice while explaining what was the Bush administration doing to ensure that the supplies to its forces in Afghanistan continued unhindered.

“That’s being looked at – it’s being looked at with the Pakistanis … it’s obviously something of a concern,” she said. “There have been some significant discussions between the Isaf and Pakistan and the US about how to deal with the situation.”