India, Pak recognise need for better relations: US
Pakistan Times Kashmir Desk

WASHINGTON (US): US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said here that India and Pakistan recognise the need for better relations so they can pursue their independent goals.

Asked whether the two South Asian neighbours continued to pose the greatest threat of nuclear weapons use, Rice indicated the situation was vastly different from what it was three years ago in December 2001 and again in June 2002.

"But in the intervening years, in part because the two sides recognised the dangers that they posed; in part, because the war on terrorism has, interestingly, put Pakistan and India on the same side against extremism in a way that they had never been before; and, in part, because the United States has worked very hard to have good relations with India and with Pakistan. In other words, we have de-hyphenated the relationship - we have a good relationship with India, we have a good relationship with Pakistan - all of that, I think, has contributed to a significant improvement in relations between the two," Rice contended.

She called it remarkable that both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Pervez Musharraf separately said they are committed to good relations, which they believe are going relatively well. It was time for cricket diplomacy as Musharraf was going to India to watch a cricket match, she recalled. Rice said it doesn't mean there won't be difficulties between them. "... but you do sense that they recognise the importance of rapprochement between the two sides and that they both have a lot of stake in rapprochement," she added. Rice said the Bush administration had a vision for South Asia, one in which the good relations are supplemented with excellent defence cooperation with not just India and Pakistan but also Afghanistan.●