Washington: India and Pakistan have realised that only they can resolve the differences between them and United States will encourage the two nations to do so, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
"I think both countries realise there are lots of important issues that only they can resolve between them, but the United States has encouraged the dialogue and we obviously hope that it will be productive," Clinton told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
Clinton was responding to questions from the members of Foreign Affairs and Related Programs Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about the possibility of the Taliban getting hold of the Pakistan nuclear weapons and India taking preventive measures.
"Well, Congressman, that`s an extremely important issue and it`s one that we take as a very high priority in our efforts with both countries. We are heartened by the fact that they are resuming on a dialogue," US Secretary of States said.
"They made progress in the last dialogue between then (Pakistan) President (Pervez) Musharraf and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh. It was suspended when Musharraf left office. It is now only being resumed," Clinton said.
On Pakistan`s actions, she said Obama Administration has been encouraged by the results of military and intelligence operations over the last several weeks that resulted in the capture and detention of some of the key members of the so-called Quetta Shurra, a very high ranking Taliban leader, right up there with Mullah Omar.
"We have also been encouraged by the Pakistani military`s successful efforts to rout Taliban from their own country, from Swat to North Waziristan, and we are working
very closely with the government, both the democratically elected government and the military and ISI," she said.
"But we believe that the people and government of Pakistan have, over the course of this past year, understood the direct threat to their state`s survival posed by the extremists inside Pakistan, that it`s not a problem for someone else.
"That they are operating out of Pakistan, that given the brutality and the horrific attacks launched mosques, markets, universities, volleyball games, police stations, ISI headquarters, this has been now seen for what it is – a direct assault on the sovereignty and capacity of the Pakistan government," Clinton said, adding she was quite pleased to see the vigorous response coming forth from Pakistan.
EU welcomes Indo-Pak talks
The European Union has "warmly welcomed" the foreign-secretary level talks between India and Pakistan and expressed hope that the step would lead to a serious and responsive dialogue between the two countries.
EU`s representative Catherine Ashton has "warmly welcomed" Thursday`s talks between Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in New Delhi, an online news portal reported.
"We hope that it will lead to a serious and responsive dialogue to address issues of concerns between the two countries," she said in a statement.
"This constitutes a significant event, which should contribute to an improvement of relations between Pakistan and India," Ashton added.
The meeting was the first formal dialogue between the two neighbours since the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008.
PTI/IANS inputs
