US says it supports direct discussions between India, Pakistan

Washington: The United States has said it supports direct discussions between India and Pakistan but the pace, scope and character of talks should be determined by the two neighbouring countries.

Responding to a question at his daily news conference on Thursday, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US values its important relationships with both India and Pakistan.

"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," he said.

Responding to another question, Miller said 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.

"We are in regular communication with Pakistani leaders as a part of our partnership on CT issues, and we will continue to discuss regional security in detail, including through our annual counterterrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations," he added.