Pakistan, India should continue talks, says US

Despite terrorists’ conspiracies...

Kerry talks to Nawaz on phone; PM says Pakistan probing Pathankot incident

ISLAMABAD: The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, on Saturday urged Pakistan and India to continue the dialogue despite conspiracies by terrorists.

“We hope that the talks between both countries will continue despite the fact that terrorists have tried to thwart it,” he said, while talking to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on phone.

The United States has joined the efforts openly and publicly to save the ambiance for restoration of talks between Pakistan and India scheduled for next week.

The official sources told ‘The News’ late on Saturday evening that the US is satisfied about Pakistan’s keenness for resumption of dialogue with India and have stability in the region.

The US secretary of state said that the United States applauds Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s leadership role in such difficult environment, which was the exact leadership needed in this situation.

Continuation of India-Pakistan talks is needed in the interest of regional stability and the leadership role by both the prime ministers is required to ensure continuous dialogue, Secretary Kerry added.

Prime Minister Nawaz appreciated the interest demonstrated by the US in the matter and told Secretary Kerry that Pakistan is swiftly carrying out investigations in a transparent manner and will bring out the truth. The world will see its effectiveness and sincerity in this regard, the prime minister added.

Pakistan is eliminating terrorism from its soil and will not allow anyone to use the Pakistani soil to carry out terror operations abroad. All state institutions are fully committed to eliminating terrorism, Nawaz said.

Secretary Kerry extended full support and cooperation to the prime minister in finding out the truth on the Pathankot terror incident.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told this scribe that Washington is exerting its clout over New Delhi to stick to its earlier commitment for resuming the talks with Islamabad so that the outstanding disputes could be sorted out through talks.