US Says India backs Pakistan Strategy

[GUNNER]

US Says India backs Pakistan Strategy

WASHINGTON, June 8, 2010 (AFP) -

India has voiced understanding for the giant US aid plan for its historic rival Pakistan despite earlier security fears, a senior US official said Tuesday.

"They believe we have a shared interest in helping to stabilize Pakistan," said Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia.

"They're certainly well aware that a spiral-down would not be in India's interests," he told a State Department blog forum.

The United States last week held a "strategic dialogue" with India aimed at deepening the ties between the world's two largest democracies which have been warming for the past decade.
But the task was delicate as President Barack Obama has also put a focus on Pakistan, which has fought three full-fledged wars with India since their separation at birth in 1947.
The United States last year approved a five-year, 7.5 billion-dollar plan to build the economy and democratic institutions in Pakistan, hoping to dent the appeal of Islamic extremists in the nuclear-armed nation.
Blake acknowledged that India had been less enthusiastic over US military support to Pakistan than the economic aid, but said: "I think they understand that we are trying to build up Pakistan's counter-insurgency capabilities."
The United States has sought Pakistan's "assurances that the weapons that are provided will not be used against India," Blake said.
The United States has welcomed what it sees as a deepening commitment by Pakistan to fight homegrown Taliban militants in its lawless northwestern area bordering Afghanistan.
But US officials have pressed Pakistan also to act against virulently anti-Indian groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is blamed in the bloody 2008 siege of Mumbai.
"The United States consistently emphasizes... that it is very important in particular for Pakistan to take action against these groups that are targeting not only India but increasingly the United States," Blake said.
Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said last week that he received assurances in the strategic dialogue that the United States was "not going to do anything which would adversely affect India's interests."

 

[Justin Joseph]

India backs US aid to Pakistan, says Blake

WASHINGTON: India supports the US economic package for Pakistan, although it does have concerns about the military assistance, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

“They believe we have a shared interest in helping to stabilise Pakistan,” said Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia.

In an earlier briefing on Monday afternoon, Mr Blake said the US had been “in the forefront of countries” urging Pakistan to not only continue its operations in Swat and South Waziristan, but also to address the problem in Punjab.

The Punjab-based groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba, he said, were operating against India and had also targeted the United States.

“This will remain a very, very high priority for us and you should not doubt the sincerity of that statement,” said Mr Blake when an Indian journalist suggested that the US was not seriously persuading Pakistan to act against groups like the Lashkar.

Mr Blake said that India and Pakistan’s proxy in Afghanistan was also discussed in last week’s strategic dialogue between the United States and India.

But “we were much more focused on the future of Afghanistan and how the training effort is going and the reconciliation process and the whole process of rebuilding the economy and so forth”, he said.During the strategic dialogue, the US also reaffirmed its support for “the very important work” that India had undertaken in Pakistan, he said.

“Our determination (is) to see if we can find ways to work together more in Afghanistan. Because we do believe that India is playing a constructive role. So that may be a new area of cooperation for us,” he said.

The US-India strategic dialogue, held in Washington last week, aimed at deepening the ties between the two countries which have been warming for the past decade.

In March, the Obama administration held a similar dialogue with Pakistan and assured it that the United States would not leave it alone after the Afghan war as it had long-term interests in that country.

But Mr Blake said the Indians no longer objected to the aid package as they too believed that Pakistan should be helped to rebuild its economy.

Mr Blake, however, conceded that India had been more sceptical over US military support to Pakistan, but said: “I think they understand that we are trying to build up Pakistan's counter-insurgency capabilities.”

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[Rocketsingh]

finally Yankees has done this