Washington, Apr 29: Expressing support for the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza, United States Thursday said that it is  “good for the region”.
“We always think that when leaders of countries, particularly countries with the unique history of India and Pakistan, anytime they can get together for high-level constructive dialogue, that is good for the region and we support it,” a State Department spokesman said.
“We have encouraged India and Pakistan that they need to restore a high-level dialogue that they have had in the not-too-distant past,” spokesman Philip J Crowley told reporters when asked what role the US had played in bringing about the Singh-Gilani meeting.
 “There have been some significant steps by both countries to restore dialogue both at the leader level and at other levels, and we certainly encourage that,” he added.
 The US has its own strategic dialogue with both India and Pakistan, Crowley said noting; “We are planning for the next round of discussions with India in the next few weeks.”
 Asked if President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had relayed a common message to the prime ministers of India and Pakistan during bilateral meetings on the sidelines of Nuclear Security Summit, he said the US had encouraged the leaders to restore direct dialogue.
 “We have encouraged the leaders of Pakistan and India to restore direct dialogue that has been characteristic of the relationship between those two countries within the last few years, and we’re encouraged that they are taking steps to do that,” Crowley said.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 29 Apr 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 IST