Modi-Sharif meeting an important step forward: US Vice President Joe Biden

WASHINGTON:The recent meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif is an important step forward towards peaceful dialogue between the two countries, US Vice President Joe Biden said as he praised India's efforts to strengthen ties with neighbours.

"Last week, a meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Pakistan's Prime Minister Sharif marks an important step forward in to reducing tensions and leading to constructive dialogue," Biden told a Washington audience.

He hoped that it would lead to more such dialogues.

The US, he said, strongly encourage both sides to build on this strategic avenue, to embrace trade and economic linkages and build constituents for peace in both countries.

Biden was delivering remarks at an event organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Confederation of Indian Industry to observe the 10th anniversary of landmark India-US Civil Nuclear deal.

In his address, Biden praised Modi's policy of engagement with India's neighbors.

Applauding India's quick and leading relief effort in Nepal in the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake, he referred to Modi's effort to peacefully resolve border dispute with neighbouring Bangladesh.

Modi, he said, became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka in two decades.

He also mentioned how India is playing a role in building a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan that no longer serves as a safe haven for terrorism.

Biden also praised India's Act East Policy, which he noted goes well with the Asia Pacific rebalance of the US.

Every nation, including both India and China, has benefited from the stability and prosperity that the US has helped maintain for nearly 70 years, he added.

The Modi-Sharif meeting on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Ufa, Russia "marked an important step forward in lowering tensions and leading to constructive dialogue," Vice President Joe Biden said here Monday.

"Our hope and prayer is it will yield more," he said during a keynote speech on US-India relations at an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The US, Biden said "strongly encouraged" the two sides "to build on this strategic opening to enhance trade and economic linkages and build key constituencies for peace in both countries."

The US, he said, "was also grateful for India's generosity in supporting Afghanistan's economic and political stability and shared interest in a peaceful stable Afghanistan that no longer serves as a safe haven for terrorists."