US aims to ease Pakistan-India tension: report

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Monday, April 05, 2010

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama issued a secret directive in December to intensify American diplomacy aimed at easing tensions between India and Pakistan, asserting that without détente between the two rivals, the administration's efforts to win Pakistani cooperation in Afghanistan would suffer, Wall Street Journal reported in Monday.

WSJ in its report said that the directive concluded that India must make resolving its tensions with Pakistan a priority for progress to be made on US goals in the region, according to people familiar with its contents.

A debate continues within the administration over how hard to push India, which has long resisted outside intervention in the conflict with its neighbour. The Pentagon, in particular, has sought more pressure on New Delhi, according to US and Indian officials.

Current and former US officials said the discussion in Washington over how to approach India has intensified as Pakistan ratchets up requests that the US intercede in a series of continuing disputes.

The White House declined to comment on Obama's directive or on the debate within the administration over India policy. The directive to top foreign-policy and national-security officials was summarized in a memo written by National Security Adviser James Jones at the end of the White House's three-month review of Afghan war policy in December.

An Indian government official said the US's increasing attention to Pakistani concerns hasn't hurt bilateral relations overall. "Our relationship is mature-of course we have disagreements, but we're trying not to have knee-jerk reactions," the Indian official said.