Resumption of Indo Pak dialogue is encouraging: US

WASHINGTON: Welcoming the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Russia, the United States today said it is encouraged by the resumption of the Indo-Pak dialogue, which was stopped in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks.

"A resumption of such high-level engagement in the aftermath of the November Mumbai attacks is encouraging," State Department Spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters at his daily press briefing in response to a question.

"We have seen media reports indicating that Indian Prime Minister Singh and Pakistani President Zardari have met on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Yekaterinburg," Kelly said.

This is for the first time that Singh met Zardari after the Mumbai terror attacks which killed more than 170 people.

Noting that the US has always welcomed dialogue and better ties between India and Pakistan, he said: "It is also obvious that the pace, the scope and the character of that dialogue is something for Indian and Pakistani leaders to decide."

How and when to approach that dialogue is something for India and Pakistan to decide, Kelly said reiterating the well known stand of the United States that there should not be a third party mediation between the two countries

"We have said before that India and Pakistan need to continue their dialogue to find joint solutions against terrorism and to promote regional stability," he said.