Hillary urges talks on Kashmir

Published December 15, 2009

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for resumption of Pakistan-India dialogue on all their disputes, including Kashmir, and warned that terrorists will try to provoke a conflict between the two countries if the issues are not resolved.

“We've encouraged both Pakistan and India to resume dialogue and to talk about everything, including Kashmir, because now the security of both countries is threatened by the forces of extremism,” she told a TV channel.

Replying to a question about Pakistan's concerns about alleged Indian involvement in stoking unrest in Balochistan from Afghanistan, she said “We think, very strongly, that it is in both Pakistan's and India's interest to get back to a dialogue and to try to address every one of these issues in an open way. It is not in India's interest for Pakistan to be destabilised. It is not in Pakistan's interest for Afghanistan to be destabilised.”

She said the South Asian neighbourhood was at risk because of the presence of terrorists who wished to destabilise Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.—APP

Our correspondent adds In an interview to Pakistani scholar Hasan Abbas who holds the Quaid-i-Azam Chair at the Columbia University, Ms Clinton said that forming an international group to help Pakistan and India resolve their differences could be a positive move, but the impetus to do so must come from the two countries. She had been asked if there was a possibility that the United States, European Union and China could initiate a move to bring Pakistan and India closer and help them resolve their differences.

“I think it could be a guarantor or it could be a positive force for implementation,” she said. “But I think that the impetus must come from the two countries themselves.”

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