US nudges India, Pakistan to resume dialogue, talks in NY unlikely

Ruling out any role in reviving the talks between India and Pakistan, the US said it is for the leaders of the two countries to decide the pace and scope of the peace talks. “The tensions in the region are significant. We recognize that, and we believe it’s important for leaders of both countries to resume this dialogue and the discussion and to try to come to some resolution,” State Department Spokesman John Kirby said in Washington on August 27.

While the US said it was happy with the talks held between leaders of India and Pakistan in Ufa, it was disappointed that the NSA-level talks between both countries didn’t take place. Both countries were advised to resume a formal dialogue soon. “These are issues for the two to resolve together, and that’s what we continue to encourage is a resumption of dialogue between the leaders of both India and Pakistan,” said Mr Kirkby. He added that it was for the two parties to work out outstanding issues between them.

Making its position clear on terrorism, the US said it is committed to countering violent extremism using national power and international cooperation.

The US advice to India and Pakistan to resume dialogue may prod the two countries to hold some form of talks at the level of senior officials/ministers in New York on the sidelines of the UNGA in the last week of September. Although both India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif are expected to be in New York for the UNGA, it’s unlikely that any meeting will take place between the two given extreme bitterness and mutual recriminations that followed the last-minute cancellation of talks between the national security advisers of the two countries a few days ago.

Author Profile

India Writes Network: India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.