'US not to interfere in Indo-Pak issues'

The United States has once again made it clear that it would not interfere in issues concerning India and Pakistan, and that they should be resolved by the two countries themselves.

Interacting with mediapersons in New York, US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, Robert Blake, said it was important to resolve the pending issues between India and Pakistan, but Washington believes that it should be done by the two concerned states only.

"This is a very sensitive topic for them. And our position has always been that this is something that needs to be worked out between our two friends, India and Pakistan, so I'd prefer to just leave it at what I already said," The Dawn quoted Blake, as saying.

He, however, parried questions regarding Foreign Minister S M Krishna's concerns regarding an increase in US aid to Pakistan.

"I'd rather not get into trying to talk about what the Indians said. I mean, I'd prefer you just ask them directly about their positions, because particularly on this subject, it's quite a sensitive issue, and I don't want to mischaracterize their views," Blake said.

Blake said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has welcomed the meeting between Indian Foreign Minister S M. Krishna with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi which is scheduled to take place on Sunday in New York.