US supports direct talks between India and Pakistan

The United States supports direct talks between Pakistan and India but believes that the pace, scope, and character should be determined by both countries.

“We value our important relationships with both India and Pakistan. We support direct discussions between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope, and character should be determined by those two countries, not by us,” State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller told a press briefing.

He was asked to comment on Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s greetings to Prime Minister Modi for securing a third term.

“Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Narendra Modi on his hat-trick victory days after other foreign leaders extended their felicitations following the results of the Lok Sabha polls. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on securing a third term in office.”

Matthew Miller was also asked about Pakistan’s request for more US military equipment to fight terrorist groups like TTP. “The United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security. We partner with Pakistan on security through our high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including several capacity-building programs. We also support a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements,” he remarked.

“We are in regular communication with Pakistani leaders as part of our partnership on CT issues. We will continue to discuss regional security in detail, including through our annual counterterrorism dialogue,” noted Miller.

On a question about the latest report from the FBI, military officials, and former CIA chief that the United States faces a serious threat of a terrorist attack in the months ahead, Matthew Miller said that he has seen that report. “We obviously take counterterrorism matters very seriously. This is something that we work on across the interagency. The full suite of national security and law enforcement agencies work to detect terrorism plots, disrupt them, and hold people accountable,” he concluded.