The United States says it backs direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on “issues of concern” as Islamabad linked the resumption of trade with its neighbor on New Delhi’s rollback of its 2019 unilateral decisions on the status of the disputed Kashmir territory.
The State Department avoided weighing in on the specific issues that continue to hold the two nuclear neighbors off the path of formal peace talks despite some ice-breaking contacts in the last few weeks.
“I wouldn’t want to comment on that specifically,” Ned Price, the State Department spokesperson, said at his daily news briefing.
“What I would say is that we continue to support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on issues of concern,” Price added.
The U.S. has close ties with both South Asian countries. With India, Washington has expanded a strategic relationship, which President Joseph Biden has continued to carry forward. With Pakistan, the U.S. relations centered around the search for peace and stability in Afghanistan, and have moved away from a once close and wide-ranging relationship of the early part of the 21st century when both worked to defeat al-Qaeda for several years after the 9/11 terror attacks. Relations with India take into account a rising and assertive China in the geostrategic perspective in Asia.
India changed the status of the long-disputed Kashmir territory under its control on August 5, 2019, and made it part of the Indian Union. The decision by the ultranationalist government of Prime Minister Modi sparked tensions and skirmishes along the Line of Control in Kashmir.
It was only recently that the two countries announced to back away from the confrontational mode and announced an agreement to abide by the ceasefire along the Line of Control in Kashmir that divides the Himalayan territory between the two countries in one of the most heavily militarized regions.
Islamabad and New Delhi have held talks on water issues since then. Last week, Pakistan signaled it might resume Indian imports but Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet ruled that the revival of the commercial ties should not take place until New Delhi reverted Kashmir to its autonomous status.
