WASHINGTON, June 22: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview aired on Sunday that threats by Afghanistan to pursue Taliban insurgents across the border into Pakistan were “not wise.”

Rice instead called for cooperation between the two nations after Afghan President Hamid Karzai had angered Pakistan when he threatened cross-border action as a right of “self-defence” against Taliban forces.

“I think it’s probably not wise to talk about Afghan cross-border operations,” Rice said in the interview with CNN.

“I think it’s better that Pakistan and Afghanistan cooperate on their respective sides of the border,” she said.

“There are Taliban operating in Afghanistan who have to be defeated. And there are Taliban who are operating in Pakistan, and they have to be defeated, too.

But I think it’s probably better that the respective governments deal with their own problems.”

—AFP