The United States wants India and Pakistan to hold talks directly with each other and has urged the two neighbouring countries to determine the pace, scope, and character of the talks.
In his daily news conference on Thursday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated, "As we have said, we support direct discussions between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope and character should be determined by those two countries, not by us."
Miller noted the USA's significant relationships with both India and Pakistan and when asked about regional security, he added, "The US 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 counterterrorism capacity-building programmes, and we support a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements," he said.
The US was in regular communication with Pakistani leaders as a part of their partnership on counter-terrorism issues, and would continue to discuss regional security in detail, including through their annual counterterrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations, Miller added.
His remarks came at a time when India-Pakistan relations are at a historic low, particularly following India's 2019 revocation of Article 370.
Both nations are currently facing resurgent and more vicious forms of terrorism.
India has recently experienced a series of terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of many, including security personnel.
Similarly, Pakistan is battling terrorism in its northern frontier districts, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Both countries have been blaming each other for the terrorist attacks and have refused to hold any meaningful talks.
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