US encourages India, Pakistan to continue dialogue process

Washington: The US on Friday said that it should come as a shock to no one that terrorist groups would try to undermine the Indo-Pak peace process by carrying out attacks, as it encouraged the two countries to continue the dialogue.

"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 reporters here.

"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," Kirby said, referring to the attack on the Pathankot air base on January 2 by Pakistani terrorists.

He said the US wants India and Pakistan to "continue to have a dialogue and to continue to look for ways to cooperate against a common threat. We talked about this not long ago at a recent conversation between both Prime Ministers (Nawaz) Sharif and (Narendra) Modi."

"That was a welcome sign, both condemning the terrorist attack on the air station and expressing their shared commitment to fighting terrorism. 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," he said.

His remarks came as India and Pakistan agreed mutually to defer the Foreign Secretary-level talks that were to take place in Islamabad this week. They have agreed to hold the parleys in the "very near future".

The bilateral relationship between India and the United States are excellent, he said in response to another question.

"There is still much to be done. This is an important relationship that we want to continue to improve. We have excellent relations with the Government of India. We want to make them even better," he said.