Encourage India, Pakistan to avoid escalation, resolve issues through dialogue, says US
Washington, DC: The United States has said that it "will not get into the middle of the situation" following allegations by Pakistan on India and has urged both countries to avoid escalation of tensions and resolve differences via dialogue.
The response by US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller came after he was asked about Washington's stance on a recent UK media report citing Pakistani officials alleging that India carried killings of individuals associated with terrorism and extremism on Pakistani soil. Indian officials have termed the allegations as "false and malicious anti-India propaganda."
"We have been following the media reports about this issue. We don't have any comment on the underlying allegations, but of course, while we're not going to get in the middle of this situation, we encourage both sides to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue," Matthew Miller said during a press briefing.
Miller said this when he was asked about the US response to the recent report in 'The Guardian' newspaper.
Earlier this January too Pakistan attempts to link India with the deaths of two Pakistani nationals were dismissed by Ministry of External Affairs with official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal terming it as "peddling false and malicious anti-India propaganda".
Jaiswal had said, "We have seen media reports regarding certain remarks by Pakistan Foreign Secretary. It is Pakistan's latest attempt at peddling false and malicious anti-India propaganda.
As the world knows, Pakistan has long been the epicentre of terrorism, organised crime, and illegal transnational activities."
"India and many other countries have publicly warned Pakistan, cautioning that it would be consumed by its own culture of terror and violence. Pakistan will reap what it sows. To blame others for its own misdeeds can neither be a justification nor a solution," he added.
Jaiswal made the remarks after Pakistan Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi claimed Islamabad had "credible evidence" of links between Indian agents and the assassination of two Pakistani nationals in Sialkot and Rawalkot--Shahid Latif and Muhammad Riaz.
Latif, who was gunned down in a mosque in Sialkot, has been designated as a terrorist in India, Dawn reported. Riaz, formerly associated with the terrorist organisation Jamaatud Dawa, was killed in Rawalkot, The Express Tribune reported.
In May last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the "victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism". Addressing a press conference after a meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers, Jaishankar slammed Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's "weaponising terrorism" remarks.
"Victims of terrorism do not sit together with perpetrators of terrorism to discuss terrorism. Victims of terrorism defend themselves, counter acts of terrorism, they call it out, they legitimise it and that is exactly what is happening. To come here and preach these hypocritical words as though we are on the same boat," he said.
