WASHINGTON, May 29: The United States has “grave” concerns about the tensions between Pakistan and India, and Washington is “working hard, in conversations and consultations with both countries, to try to ease and de-escalate the conflict”, according to the Pentagon spokesperson.

The US government also had concerns about the effects of the present situation on the ongoing “war on terrorism” in Afghanistan. “It’s very important to us; we want to stay focused on it. Pakistan has been tremendously helpful in that effort and we need that assistance going forward,” the spokesperson, Victoria Clarke, told a briefing on Tuesday.

Questioned about Pakistan’s missile tests, Ms Clarke declined to get into what she called “characterizations” of the tests, and repeated that the US was worried about “what’s going on there”.

Asked whether it was the US assessment that most of the senior leadership of Al Qaeda and the Taliban had crossed over to the Pakistani side of the border, as stated by Maj-Gen Franklin Hagenback, commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan in an interview with The New York Times, Ms Clarke said: “I don’t know if that’s exactly what he said.

I know he was talking about the fact that it is likely there are Al Qaeda and Taliban in Pakistan, and that happens to be true. Given the porous nature of the border around the country, it’s likely there are Al Qaeda and Taliban in lots of different places. So I don’t know if that’s exactly what he said. If we knew exactly where some of these people were, then we probably would have them.”

The situation in the tribal areas has been a major US preoccupation, and military officials fear that thinning out Pakistani troops in the region might hamper efforts to search for fighters fleeing from Afghanistan.

Air Force Gen John Rosa said at Tuesday’s briefing: “If, in fact, (Pakistani) forces move away from that border, without confirming or denying force movements, but if they do, it obviously would have some type of impact.”