WASHINGTON: Despite favouring India out of the way to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the US believes Pakistan should be free to proceed with the membership as well, as it does not want an arms race in the region.
“I am aware of what we said about India’s membership into the group but any membership decisions need to be done collectively by the entire group,” a spokesperson for the State Department said.
“But certainly, if Pakistan wants to pursue that, that’s something for all the members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group to consider.”
Speaking with foreign journalists here on Thursday, deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said the membership process means to achieve nuclear energy.
“We don’t want any nuclear arms race in the region. What we are talking about here is the pursuit of peaceful nuclear and civilian energy.”
The spokesperson also asked Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to plan attacks in India and take actions against such groups to increase cooperation and reduce tensions between the two countries.
“That includes steps by Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to plan attacks in India and that Pakistan takes steps to address or to go after all the terrorist groups that are currently using its territory,” the spokesperson said a day after Indian prime minister concluded his trip to the US.
“That continues to be an area of collaboration and cooperation that we pursue with Pakistan in its counterterrorism operations,” Mark Toner said.
“We believe Pakistan and India stand to benefit from practical cooperation and encourage direct dialogue aimed at increasing cooperation and reducing tensions.”
Mark Toner said the discussion between Prime Minister Modi and President Obama included concerns about terror attacks in India.
“They talked about a wide range of regional issues, in fact,” he said, adding that bilateral relations with India and Pakistan are separate and stand on their own merits.
“It’s not prudent for us to view our security cooperation in the region in kind of a zero-sum game; it’s important for the countries of the region that they all have constructive security relationships with each other. And that’s Pakistan, that’s India, and it’s also Afghanistan.”
Discussing the agenda of American delegation currently visiting Pakistan, Toner said the US continues to work closely with Pakistan as it confronts the threats of terrorism on its soil.
“We have a long standing relationship with Pakistan and that relationship includes frank discussions about our concerns about security threats to the region. We continue to have those discussions with Pakistan and help where we can provide them with capabilities and cooperate,” he said referring to the concerns that the US has against the Haqqani network.
Mark Toner said the ongoing concerns also include security along the border, the Pakistan-Afghan border, and talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
“We do believe that, ultimately, the way to bring about peace and to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan remains an area of focus. We are also going to, obviously, talk about other areas of cooperation on counterterrorism with Pakistan,” he said.
—Originally published in The News