WASHINGTON, Dec 6: The White House has refused to support calls for punitive actions against Pakistan, insisting that the best way to resolve the current crisis was to stay engaged with both India and Pakistan.

The issue of punitive action against Pakistan for last week’s terrorist attacks in Mumbai was raised at a Friday afternoon briefing at the White House by an Indian-American journalist known for his anti-Pakistan rhetoric.

“We want to see cooperation by all the parties involved to make sure that we understand what happened last week,” said Scott Stanzel when asked if the United States recognised India’s right to strike alleged terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan.

The White House official also disagreed with the suggestion that the link between the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks and militant groups inside Pakistan had already been established.

“I will let the assessments about what took place just last week in terms of the terrorist attack in Mumbai — I’ll let the experts in the intelligence community talk about those linkages,” said Mr Stanzel.

He said the US intelligence officials were working with their partners in India and Pakistan to determine what happened. “It is important to understand everything that occurred, and to investigate fully what happened.”

The White House deputy spokesman, however, made it clear that the US sympathised with India on the issue and had sent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region “to express our solidarity with the people of India who have been victims of this attack”.

Noting that countries like the US had seen the real negative impact and the threat of terrorism over the years, Mr Stanzel said, “We have to work together to make sure that we take on and tackle those challenges and confront the terrorists where they are.”