WASHINGTON: The United States and India have agreed to ‘deepen’ their close collaboration in the fight against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the White House said.

In a joint statement with Pakistan last week, the United States stressed the need for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir issue and called on ‘all parties’ in the region to act with ‘maximum restraint’ for reducing tensions.

But in a statement issued after US National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice’s meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday, the United States also underlined the need for greater cooperation with India for combating terrorist groups operating in Kashmir.

At the White House meeting, Ambassador Rice and Foreign Secretary Jaishan­kar discussed US-India collaboration against LeT, JeM and other terrorist threats.

“Building on their leaders’ commitment to make the US-India partnership a defining relationship for the 21st century, they agreed to deepen their already close collaboration on these issues,” the statement added.

The two officials also noted their preparation for the upcoming Nuclear Security Summit, which would also be attended by Pakistani and Indian prime ministers.

Diplomatic observers in Washington say that through the separate statements the United States was sending a message to the two South Asian nations that it wanted to retain its relationships with both and also that its responses to various issues would be guided by its own policies on those issues.

On Monday, Mr Jaishankar met officials at the State Department, Department of Commerce and US Trade Represen­tatives here.

At the end of his two-day visit to the US capital, the Indian Embassy in Washington issued a statement saying that the visit was aimed at reviewing the India-US relations and preparing for India’s participation at the Nuclear Security Summit later this month.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016