2 min readWashingtonOct 5, 2011 10:10 AM IST
First published on: Oct 5, 2011 at 10:10 AM IST
Welcoming the strategic partnership agreement between India and Afghanistan,the United States today asserted that there was no reason for uneasiness or apprehension by Pakistan’s leadership on this.
“It should not been seen as a zero-sum game,” a State Department official said,when asked about the possible implication in Pakistan of India-Afghan Strategic Partnership,announced in New Delhi a day earlier,particularly at a time when there is simmering tension in US-Pak relationship.
“We got a common goal there which is peaceful,stable and an increasingly democratic country in Afghanistan which… everybody would be able to benefit from peace and security so it is not a zero-sum game,” the official said requesting anonymity as the official was authorised to speak to the media on this issue.
Earlier in the day,the State Department spokesperson,Victoria Nuland,welcomed the reports of strategic partnership between India and Afghanistan which was announced during the Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s visit to New Delhi yesterday.
“I would first say that we are seeing the same reports that you are that India and Afghanistan will soon announce a strategic partnership that India is going to participate in the new Silk Road Initiative. Those are both things that we very much welcome,” Nuland told reporters.
The spokesperson also welcomed the recent Commerce Ministers talks between India and Pakistan.
“We support any and all warming between Pakistan and India. We have been strong supporters of the dialogues that the two governments have been having,” she said.
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