US tries to pacify India

After ruffling feathers in Delhi with a reference to Indo-Pak ties, the US on Thursday sought to pacify India saying it has to decide with Pakistan the substance, scope and pace of their relationship.

"We've always said, in terms of Indo-Pakistan relations, that's really up to India and Pakistan to decide how and when and the scope of that," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, told reporters here.

Trying to placate New Delhi which is upset over the joint statement issued in Beijing after talks between President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, the US said it has an "equally important relationship" with India as that with China.

"I don't think there needs to be any concern in India about what the President said in China. We have very important relations with China. But we have equally important relations with India. "And I think that will come out very clearly during the course of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit next week," he said.

India had on Wednesday reacted sharply after both Obama and Hu voiced support for the improvement of Indo-Pak ties and their readiness to promote peace and stability in the region in the joint statement. New Delhi made it clear that a third country role cannot be envisaged nor is it necessary.

As friends of India and Pakistan, the US has always encouraged both countries to meet and to try to narrow their differences, Blake said. Blake said the initiative this time has to come from Pakistan.

"I think the priority is for Pakistan to take action against the (26/11) Mumbai suspects that it has in custody and again, just to make sure that there's not cross-border infiltration and that Pakistan is not used as a platform for terrorists to attack either India or other neighbouring countries," he said.

"I think Pakistan wants to do that, and they've consistently said that they want to make sure that Pakistan's territory is not used as a platform. So those are the kind of areas where we do have some - we can play a role. "But by and large on the bilateral issues facing their two countries, it's up to India and Pakistan to resolve those," Blake said.

Describing India as a rising global power, he said it has an increasingly significant role to play on virtually all of the major challenges being faced in this century. These challenges included global economic dislocation, energy security, climate change, the spread of weapons of mass destruction and violent extremism.

He said both the US and India feel that they have a significant opportunity now to take their strategic partnership to the next level.

Singh leaves on Saturday for Washington on a State visit, the first by any head of Government or State to the US in the 10-month old Obama administration.