New Delhi, July 18 (Inditop.com) Brushing aside suggestions that India and Pakistan had agreed to resume their talks under American pressure, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Saturday Washington was “not involved in any way or promoting a particular view”.
“Clearly, any decision that is taken between governments of India and Pakistan to talk together, explore the very difficult issues between them is up to those governments,” she told reporters here after attending a business meeting with India’s corporate leaders and participating in a commemorative function at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel in memory of the victims of the Nov 26-29, 2008 carnage that claimed over 170 lives.
Clinton arrived Friday night on a five-day visit, during which terrorism will feature prominently in her talks with Indian leaders in New Delhi beginning Sunday. Her stay at the Taj Mahal hotel is highly symbolic as the heritage building had been one of the principal spots attacked.
She said the US was “very supportive” of the steps taken by the Indian and Pakistani governments but was “not involved in any way or promoting a particular view”.
“I think India is a sovereign nation fully capable and prepared to protect its own interests and stand up for the rights of its own people. We are are very supportive of the steps India has taken to try to stand against terrorism,” Clinton maintained.
“We respect the sovereignty decisions that lie in the hands of the Indian government.”
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, at their meeting at Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh Thursday on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Summit, had agreed to resume talks at the foreign secretary level, with New Delhi saying further progress was predicated on the action Islamabad took against the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The opposition created a ruckus over this in parliament Friday, terming it “capitulation” to Pakistan, which it said had obtained too much in return for giving too little.
Clinton asserted that India and Pakistan’s decision on talks was “between them only”.
Answering a query on the action that Pakistan should take against terrorism, she said: “We believe that they (the terrorists groups) have to be rooted out, defeated and completely dismantled”.
Clinton also asserted that US was “very committed” in the fight against terrorism, pointing out that US had also suffered due to terrorist attacks. “We are seeking to talk with our Indian counterparts in the coming days on how to tackle the threat of terrorism,” she said.
She condemned the bombing of two hotels in Indonesia Friday that left at least eight people dead, terming it a “stark reminder” of the threat that terrorism posed globally.
