WASHINGTON, Dec 18: The United States has said that it desires India and Pakistan to “actively engage” each other for peacefully resolving their disputes.

Talking to reporters at Washington’s Foreign Press Center on Wednesday, State Department’s deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said that the US government welcomes the measures taken recently by the two South Asian neighbours to normalize their relations.

“It is an encouraging sign,” he said, adding: “We hope they will continue to actively engage” in efforts to improve bilateral relations.

Mr Ereli said the move toward direct talks between India and Pakistan was “a positive sign and we hope that both the countries (will continue to) move in that direction”.

The direction set by both the countries on their own, he said, was in the best interest of peace in South Asia and would help improve India-Pakistan relations.

Mr Ereli said that Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who is looking after the State Department in the absence of Secretary Colin Powell, had spoken twice to both Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers since Tuesday.

Mr Powell underwent surgery for prostrate cancer in Washington on Monday and is recuperating.