NEW DELHI, Oct 11: The US ambassador in India, Robert Blackwill, said on Friday that the war in Afghanistan was fought by an international coalition against terrorism, and it could not be equated with India’s frequent threats to resolve its problems with Pakistan militarily, a prospect that worries Washington seriously.

“The war against the Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has helped India as some terrorist bases that were training militants to infiltrate into India were also destroyed,” Mr Blackwill was quoted as saying at a discussion with a business club in the southern city of Mysore.

The US envoy also expressed fears that an India-Pakistan conflict on account of the cross-border infiltration would adversely affect the US interests in South Asia.

“A conflict will unleash forces that would destabilize the region. That is why we counsel a dialogue to defuse the growing tensions between the two neighbours,” Mr Blackwill said.

But he maintained that it was up to the Indian government to decide as to how to tackle the menace of infiltration.

“The US administration understands how enormously frustrated the Indian public is about terrorism. We only hope that the infiltration from across the border stops and normalcy returns to the border state,” Mr Blackwill said.

Stating that the US would continue to persuade both the countries to resume talks, Mr Blackwill said it was entirely up to the Indian government to take the initiative.

He said there was a difference between the US attacking Afghanistan to stamp out Al Qaeda bases and the Taliban regime, and India attacking camps in Pakistan or across the Line of Control.

“The decision on whether to launch such an attack or not is to be taken by New Delhi and not anybody or anywhere else. We may have our own views on the subject.

“But in the end, it is up to the democratic process in this great country to figure out what would best serve its interests,” he said. He stressed that ‘the war in Afghanistan’ was not waged by the US alone, but by an international coalition comprising 40 countries. Ground troops of 20 countries were still camping in that country, he said.