Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 18 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Saturday brushed aside suggestions that India and Pakistan had agreed to resume their talks under American pressure, pointing out that both were “sovereign nations”.
The US was “supportive” of the talks but was not “directly involved”, Clinton told reporters here as she kicked off her first visit to India after assuming office.

India and Pakistan had taken the “decision between them”, she added.

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 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

Clinton also asserted that US was “very committed” in the fight against terrorism. “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.