WASHINGTON: So far Pakistan has not shared with the United States any evidence of India’s involvement in terrorist activities inside its territory, says the US State Department.

During a recent visit to Washington, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary had said that Pakistan had evidence of India’s involvement in such activities.

“I am not aware of any such delivery,” said US State Department spokesman John Kirby when asked at a news briefing if Pakistan had shared those proofs with the United States.

Mr Kirby, however, also refused to comment on India’s claim that it had its own evidence to prove that Pakistan was involved in terrorist attacks inside India. Instead, he urged both countries to resolve their differences peacefully.

“We want tensions between India and Pakistan to be reduced. We want them to work together bilaterally to resolve some of these differences,” he said.

Mr Kirby said that during a visit to Washington on June 29, Indian Foreign Secretary Subramanyam Jaishankar had met US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the State Department.

Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Catherine Novelli and Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal also attended the meeting.

“Discussions included the full range of bilateral issues, Including counter-terrorism, climate/clean energy, strengthening US-India business ties, and regional connectivity,” he said.

Mr Jaishankar also met US National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice at the White House earlier this week where two sides reviewed the implementation of initiatives taken during the two summits between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama in the past one year.

They also discussed regional developments and cooperation, and ways to deepen collaboration to solve global challenges such as climate change, terrorism, and Internet governance, the White House said.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2015

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