The US said it will welcome “productive and peaceful talks” between India and Pakistan but highlighted that both nations will determine the “pace, scope, and character of” the talks.
“The United States values its relationship with both India and Pakistan, and we want to see them have a productive and peaceful relationship,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said. “We would welcome productive and peaceful talks between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope, and character of any dialogue is a matter for India and Pakistan to determine,” Miller said.
India has maintained that talks with Pakistan will only resume if the neighbour stops using terrorism as a tool to destabilise the region and cause instability in the Kashmir region.
Miller’s response was to a question posed to him by a reporter on how does the US state department view Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory message to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif following the latter’s swearing-in earlier on Tuesday.
“So, we, of course, welcome the prime minister’s statement,” Miller said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated counterpart Shehbaz Sharif following his swearing-in on Monday. “Congratulations to Shehbaz Sharif on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan,” PM Modi said in a post on social media site X.
President Arif Alvi administered the oath to the 72-year-old Shehbaz in a ceremony held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential residence. Shehbaz Sharif is taking over the reins of the cash-strapped country for a second time. He was also the outgoing prime minister and took over from Imran Khan after the latter was ousted in a no-confidence motion vote in 2022.
However, his second stint has begun with controversy because his party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) and its supremo, his elder brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif are accused to have the backing of the Pakistani deep state and the Pakistan Army in the recently concluded elections where the party did emerge as the single-largest party but did so amid widespread allegations of rigging as independents backed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) appeared to bag the most seats.
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