WASHINGTON, April 30: The United States is "relentlessly" encouraging Pakistan and India to continue the current peace process and resolve their differences through dialogue, says a US official.

"We use our good relationships for the benefit of both the countries to encourage them relentlessly to get to the negotiating table and to resolve issues through diplomatic exchange," said Ambassador Cofer Black, the state department's counter-terrorism chief.

Talking to reporters after the release of the state department report on 'Patterns of global terrorism' for 2003, Mr Black said the situation in South Asia had improved greatly.

When a reporter mentioned cross-border militant attacks in Kashmir, the ambassador said although the US was against "all violence", this was "a complicated issue."

"We are against all violence. We repeatedly use our good offices with both India and Pakistan to encourage them as much as we possibly can to get together and to negotiate a settlement to these issues that will result in the protection of innocent lives. This is a complicated issue," he said.