WASHINGTON: The Unit­ed States should encourage India to accept Pakis­tan’s economic and counter-terrorism overtures, says Ambassa­dor Jalil Abbas Jilani.

In an interview to The Washington Times, published on Monday, the envoy also said that he was optimistic about prospects for peace in Afghanistan after the US troop pullout.

By urging India to respond to Pakistan’s overtures, the Obama administration could increase its contribution to fostering peace in South Asia, he said.

Mr Jilani said India had failed to respond to repeated Pakistani proposals to create a joint counter-terrorism initiative between the two countries.

Also read: Pakistan sneaks into US-India strategic vision

This attitude exuded a “kind of arrogance,” said the ambassador, adding that US “cajoling” could open India to the initiative.

Mr Jilani said that the Obama administration’s increased attention to India appears to be having the opposite effect by essentially bolstering New Delhi’s confidence to continue ignoring Islamabad.

“If they don’t feel any pressure from any side, obviously they are a big country and they will say, ‘Why should we engage with a smaller country like Pakistan?’” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2015

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