'Stable Indo-Pak relationship benefits the world'

Strongly recommending the case of continued peace talks between India and Pakistan, the Barack Obama administration has said that a stable Indo-Pak relationship would benefit the world and the United States in particular and reiterated that Islamabad should address New Delhi's concern with regard to the 26/11 attacks.

"It is important for Pakistan and India to have a stable relationship. They, likewise, will have to have a relationship going forward, and if it is stable, then the world, including the US, benefits," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news briefing.

"So we are very, very conscious of the complexity that involves these overlapping relationships, and we've worked hard in our dialogue with each country to try to make this a more regional approach to a common challenge," he said.

"We have important national and global interests with each of these countries. Our support for Afghanistan is not taken from Pakistan. Our support for Pakistan does not mean a negative for India," he said.

"It is vitally important that these countries develop reinforcing relationships; that's what we're trying to do. That's why one of the fundamental changes in the strategy that the President approved last year was to make sure that we are looking at this in a regional rather than just an isolated issue. So part of the solution to Afghanistan does, in fact, fall within the borders of Pakistan," he said.

Crowley argued that a stable Pakistan is not a threat to India and a stable India does not need to be a threat to Pakistan.

"In giving military assistance to Pakistan, we have systems of accountability to be sure that it is being employed in accordance with the agreements that we have with Pakistan," he said. "Where we have questions about the nature of Pakistani employment of US assistance, we raise those questions directly with the Pakistani government. We have in the past and we will continue to do that," he said.

"So building up the capability of Pakistan to deal with the threat within its own borders should not be seen as a threat to India," Crowley said. Responding to a question, Crowley said there are concerns about making sure that Pakistan brings to justice those responsible for the Mumbai attack.

"We've had that conversation with Pakistan and India many, many times. Our concerns about elements within Pakistan and connections that those elements have with the Pakistani government, we've had that conversation with Pakistan many times," he said.