National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and United States Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher agreed that there was a need for Pakistan to eliminate Lashkar-e-Tayiba, but differed on the tactics to be adopted for such an exercise.American embassy diplomatic cables leaked by the whistle-blowing web site WikiLeaks reveal that US diplomats made repeated efforts to reassure their often frustrated Indian counterparts.
The Obama administration continues to be gravely concerned over the plight of Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan security forces but has no plans to launch a massive military evacuation by the US Pacific Command till there is a halt in the hostilities in the conflict zone, senior administration officials revealed.
As US President Barack Obama took ownership of a new comprehensive strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan to counter the Al Qaeda and a resurgent Taliban, senior Administration officials acknowledged that India would be a key stakeholder in these efforts too, although New Delhi will not be invited to put boots on the ground in this renewed fight against terrorism because of its regional problems with Pakistan.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
The Bush administration apparently has no problem with the new Pakistani government's peace deal with militant groups in that country's North West Frontier Province, including Waziristan that have been sympathetic and allied with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It has even given the tentative agreement its cautious blessings.
Hours after India handed over evidence linking elements in Pakistan to the Mumbai terror strikes, Islamabad on Monday assured the United States that it was examining the information and would frame a formal response soon.India today handed over to Pakistan evidence about involvement of elements based in that country in the Mumbai attacks and asked Islamabad to implement its commitments.
The Pakistan Peoples' Party-led coalition government has sent an unambiguous message to the United States that any mess with the newly elected democratic dispensation by President Pervez Musharraf will not be tolerated. The PPP leadership, however, held out a categorical assurance to the Bush administration that the new government would not create a situation leading to the unceremonious exit of Musharraf.
The Bush administration's point man for South Asia, Richard Boucher, has said that while Washington fully recognises the terrorist threat Sri Lanka continues to face from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, it should continue acting like a democracy and protect all of its citizens. The senior diplomat feels that there is a need for a political solution "alongside whatever is going on militarily and we hope the Tamil Tigers will see that as well."
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com, Richard Boucher, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, who is the Bush administration's point man for the subcontinent and who has taken charge of pushing the deal in the US Congress, said, "We are going to work with the Indians, we are going to work with the Congress and we are going to take this as far as we can go."
Voicing concern at the deteriorating security situation in Pakistan's restive tribal areas, the US on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to narrow its differences with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party over the operation launched against militants in the country's northwest.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who held talks with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon soon after his arrival from Islamabad, stressed the need for tracking down individuals and organisations behind the Mumbai attacks by following leads 'as far as they go'. The US official, who has told the Pakistani leadership to take the probe into Mumbai attacks to its logical conclusion, briefed Menon on his discussions in Islamabad.
"The question of India-Pakistan relations is one that... they have actually made great strides forward in the last couple of years. And obviously, the tensions created by the Mumbai incident made that more difficult right now,"Richard Boucher, the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher, has said those involved in the Mumbai terror attacks have links in Pakistan. "I would say it's clear that they had links in Pakistan, that the attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil" Boucher said in Islamabad on Monday, according to transcripts released by State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
Maintaining that the Mumbai attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil, the United States has asked Islamabad to pursue leads provided by New Delhi and track down the perpetrators of the deadly terror strikes. It was clear that the attackers had links that lead to Pakistani soil, visiting Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said on Monday.
Terming reconciliation with Taliban as "necessary", a senior state department official has said that there is nothing "evil" about engaging militants in the political process if they abandon violence. "I think it's necessary, but I wouldn't necessarily call it that evil," US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia, Richard Boucher said.
The Indian elections in no way precluded the United States from working jointly with India to try to alleviate the lot of the affected Tamil civilians caught up in the crossfire between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Sri Lankan troops, the outgoing point man on South Asia for the Obama Administration has said.
United States President Barack Obama has nominated US ambassador to Sri Lanka Robert O Blake, who has also served as the Deputy Chief of US Mission in New Delhi, as the Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs. If approved by the US Senate, Blake would replace Richard Boucher, who is currently Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. However, the communique did not mention Central Asia being part of Blake's portfolio.
The United States on Friday dismissed concerns that its nuclear deal with India may open up an opportunity for Pakistan and others to seek a similar agreement.
Foreign Service Officer Robert Orris Blake, Jr, who is currently the United States' Ambassador to Sri Lanka, before which he served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in New Delhi from 2003 to 2006, is the top contender for the post of the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, currently held by diplomat Richard Boucher.
The United States has advised former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif to adopt a lenient view on the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf and let him determine his own future.The US advice came as Assistant Secretary of state Richard Boucher met Sharif at the Raiwind farm house near Lahore on Tuesday.He said the US should let Pakistan settle its issues by itself. He added if the US could not facilitate Pakistan, it should not interfere in its internal affairs.
"Some of the fears are exaggerated," and added, "some of the training turns out to be sort of cadet level. Some exchanges don't lead to a lot. I think we just need to have a realistic sense of what this is," Boucher added.
The warning came during US official Richard Boucher's fourth visit in a year.
Despite a last-minute US mediation, the leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition have failed to reach a deal on restoring deposed judges, increasing the probability that ministers belonging to former premier Nawaz Sharif's party might quit the Cabinet on Monday.
India's response to 26/11 is a response that US would co-operate with and support, he said, adding, "None of us, including Pakistan, India and the US, are safe as long as terror groups such as the one that planned the 26/11 attacks are tolerated."
Amid a chill in Indo-Pak ties, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher arrives in New Delhi on Thursday from Pakistan to discuss the situation arising out of the Mumbai terror attacks. Boucher will meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and the two sides will deliberate on how Pakistan-based perpetrators of the Mumbai strikes can be brought to justice.
The US has emphasised that Pakistan has still "lot to do" in combating the menace of terrorism and the immediate focus should be on groups responsible for the ghastly Mumbai terror attacks.
"I think the steps that we've seen Pakistan take are good steps. They're promising steps. We hope they get followed up," Assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said in Beijing last week, according to a transcript released today by the State Department.
Pakistan says it will go with the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline despite skepticism over the project from the United States.
There are a lot of things that go on up there that are difficult to find out. On the other hand, we do have a pretty good idea what's going on up there, whose up there and what they're doing, Boucher said.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher announced the assistance after holding talks with Musharraf.
"These funds have been used to help Pakistan prosecute the war on terror along the Pakistan-Afghan border," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.
'We appreciate their efforts to address what is a serious concern, which is proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,' White House spokesperson Scott McClellan said.
Buoyed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's approval of the India-specific safeguards pact, the US on Sunday vowed to push through expeditiously the Nuclear Suppliers Group process but said New Delhi would have to answer a lot of questions to secure a waiver from the 45-nation bloc when it meets later this month.
The move comes after the assassination of former prime minister of Lebanon in Beirut.
Thirty-two young leaders from India and Pakistan who have just completed a three-week conflict resolution programme in Maine under the auspices of The Seeds of Peace programme, were felicitated at the State Department by Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher, who hailed them as the leaders of tomorrow and the catalysts of peace in a region beset by conflict for far too long.
The US on Saturday said it wanted a "smooth and successful transition" to democratic civilian government in Pakistan.
Emphasising that the India-US nuclear agreement is in the interest of both the countries, Richard Boucher, the top official in charge of South and Central Asia, hoped that the deal will continue towards implementation.
In a January 16 interview to Pakistan's state-run APP news agency, the transcript of which was released by the US embassy in Islamabad on Thursday, the senior diplomat also said both sides should take care not to take any step "that can be misinterpreted" by the other. He also felt that a joint investigation by both the countries into the attacks was not a bad idea.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said that America supported Pakistan in its efforts to deal with the challenges of extremism and terrorism.
Appearing before a Congressional hearing, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher was asked if Khan had been questioned by US intelligence officials.
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