WASHINGTON: The US has warned India and Pakistan that terrorist groups would continue their attempts to undermine the peace process but they should not allow the militants to achieve their goal.

“It should come as a shock to no one that terrorist groups will try to undermine those sorts of efforts by conducting spectacular attacks, to sow fear and to hopefully sow doubt in the minds of national leaders towards a level of cooperation that can have a practical effect,” State Department spokesman John Kirby told a news briefing. He described the Jan 2 terrorist attack at an Indian airbase as part of terrorists’ strategy to prevent India and Pakistan from improving their ties but noted that this time the desire for peace prevailed over terrorism.

“Obviously, we don’t want to see that happen and we are encouraged by the dialogue that has recently taken place between India and Pakistan, and we’d like to see that continue,” Mr Kirby said,

He said the United States had always wanted India and Pakistan to “continue to have a dialogue and to continue to look for ways to cooperate against a common threat”.

The US official noted that Washington had also welcomed a recent conversation between Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi, which prevented the current peace process from derailing.

“That was a welcome sign, both condemning the terrorist attack on the air station and expressing their shared commitment to fighting terrorism,” Mr Kirby said. “That was not an insignificant discussion that they had, nor was it an insignificant commitment that they made and it’s exactly the kind of commitment that we want them to continue to make.”

Earlier this week, India and Pakistan decided not to cancel the Foreign Secretary-level dialogue that was to take place in Islamabad on Jan 15 and 16. Instead, they agreed to reschedule it in the “very near future”. Mr Kirby noted that this reflected their mutual desire to resolve their differences through negotiations. “There is still much to be done. This is an important relationship that we want to continue to improve,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2016