WASHINGTON, Dec 21: The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is urgent and is of “very immediate concern” to the United States, says US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.

Mr Biden’s description of the situation in a television interview on Sunday is backed by two other senior officials, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen.

The United States would encourage Pakistan to “take (more) action in these ungoverned spaces in western Pakistan where the Taliban and Al Qaeda and some of these other violent extremists have found sanctuary,” said Mr Gates while underscoring the seriousness of the issue.

“We’re not where we need to be,” said Admiral Mullen.

“We need to be coordinated and synchronised on both sides of that border.”

But all three leaders also emphasised the need to work with Pakistan to overcome this problem which, they agreed, would encourage terrorism across the globe if not controlled now.

The emphasis on the urgency of the situation and also on the need to stay engaged in Pakistan followed a concerted, but failed, effort by the Indian lobby in Washington to bring about a fundamental change in the US policy towards South Asia.

After the Mumbai attacks, the Indian lobby, particularly those working on Capitol Hill, tried to convince Washington that instead of fighting the terrorists with Pakistan’s help, the United States should join India in singling out Pakistan as a terrorist hub and then work with India to destroy alleged terrorist hideouts inside Pakistan.

This theory was backed by reports, distributed by some US think-tanks, that India was considering precision strikes inside Azad Kashmir if Islamabad did not cooperate in controlling terrorists.

“Indian military operations against targets in Pakistan have in fact been prepared and await the signal to go forward,” warned Stratfor, a Texas-based Stratfor private security agency.

“New Delhi has little choice but to respond,” Stratfor said in the report.

“And if Islamabad will not cooperate in controlling the militants, India will have to take unilateral action.”

Stephen Cohen, a fellow at Washington’s Brookings Institution, however, warned that while the United States supported the Indian position on Mumbai attacks and wanted Pakistan to eradicate militancy, it would not support an Indian military strike against Pakistan.

“There’s no question now that the US would support India in the matter of terrorist elements operating out of Pakistan-controlled areas. But it’s also worried over the fact that a significant proportion of supplies to troops in Afghanistan depended on the stability of Pakistan, forcing the US to support regimes that promised some stability in that country,” he said.

Mr Cohen said it would be unwise for India to escalate military action and try to destroy terror camps unilaterally. More than the question of the right to act in foreign territory against perceived aggressors the way the US had acted in Afghanistan, India had to be conscious of the threat the nuclear neighbour posed if pushed into a desperate situation, he added.

Senator Biden, who as vice president-elect has received intensive security briefings on the situation, also reflected these concerns in his interview to ABC News on Sunday.

“And I think what is clear from the outset here is that we have a situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan that is urgent. It implicates India. It also implicates a whole lot of other very complicated issues,” he said.

Asked what would be the number one challenge the Obama administration would face over the first six months, Mr Biden said: “First and foremost, I think, if you want to talk about immediacy, I think that the Afghanistan-Pakistan track is a very immediate concern.”

The Obama administration, he said, was already engaged in the process of getting down clearly what “our priorities are, what our policy need be, from the day we are sworn in.”

Secretary Gates also underlined the urgency of the situation but he too made it clear that the United States not only wanted to fight this war with Pakistan’s help but also believed that Pakistan too understood the immediacy of the situation.