US urges Pakistan, India not to escalate tensions over ‘assassinations of Pakistanis’

F.P. Report

IWASHINGTON: The United States said it will stay out of the issues causing tensions between Pakistani and India while urging both sides to avoid escalation of tensions and resolve differences via dialogue over “assassination of Pakistani individuals by Indian agents”.

Speaking at a news briefing in Washington, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller maintained “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.”

Miller’s answer was in response to a question by a reporter who wanted to know the US’ stance on the Guardian report which citing Pakistani officials said that India killed individuals inside Pakistani territory in an extrajudicial manner.

“We have been following the media reports about this issue,” said Matthew Miller when asked to comment on media reports that Indian government agents had carried out assassinations inside Pakistan.

“We don’t have any comment on the underlined allegations.”

Britain’s The Guardian newspaper reported last week that the Indian government had “assassinated individuals in Pakistan as part of a wider strategy to eliminate terrorists living on foreign soil”.

In a later report, the newspaper noted that India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, in a recent statement, confirmed that his government carried out extrajudicial killings in Pakistan.

Responding to another question, Miller said the US secretary of state spoke with Pakistan’s foreign minister on Friday to “reaffirm our robust partnership which advances the prosperity of Pakistan and the US.”

The two diplomats discussed the importance of continued cooperation on counterterrorism, ex­­panding trade and investment partnership, and advancing women’s economic security and empowerment, Miller added.