NEW DELHI: The USA on Thursday expressed its assist for direct discussions between India and Pakistan, emphasizing that the tempo, scope, and character of those talks ought to be decided by the 2 neighboring nations themselves, quite than by the US.
This stance was reiterated by US state division spokesperson Matthew Miller throughout a press briefing.
Miller’s remarks got here in response to a query concerning Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s congratulatory message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on securing a 3rd time period.
“As we have said, we support direct discussions between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope and character should be determined by those two countries, not by us,” he mentioned.
Aside from Shehbaz Sharif, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif additionally congratulated PM Modi on assuming workplace for the third consecutive time period.
Prime Minister Modi responded to each Shehbaz Sharif and Nawaz Sharif, expressing his appreciation for his or her messages. He emphasised that the folks of India have all the time stood for peace, safety, and progressive concepts, and that advancing the well-being and safety of the folks shall all the time stay a precedence for his authorities.
The congratulatory messages from the Pakistani leaders got here after Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister of India for the third time period on June 9. The swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan was attended by a number of overseas dignitaries, together with the leaders of Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Bangladesh, and Seychelles.