Krishna, Qureshi meeting would benefit region: US

WASHINGTON - Welcoming the renewed efforts from India and Pakistan to come to the discussion table inorder to resolve pending contentious issues between them, the United States has described the meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi as the one which would benefit the region.

“We certainly welcome this high-level meeting,” The Daily Times quoted State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, as saying.

“It’s expressly the kind of dialogue that we think will help to address and resolve issues of interest between the countries and have consequence in the region as a whole,” Crowley added.

However, the meeting between both leaders on Thursday did not yield any substantial outcome.

Neither of the two leaders appeared optimistic about any major improvement in their stalled relationship during the delayed joint press conference after the talks.

Both Krishna and Qureshi termed the talks useful and promised to continue the process of improving their relationship, but avoided giving details on how they plan to tackle major obstacles to outstanding problems.

“We have agreed that this process is valuable and we will continue to meet in the future,” Qureshi told reporters

“This was a useful meeting and we have agreed to continue this engagement in days to come,” Qureshi added.

Krishna said he had a “good and constructive” dialogue with Qureshi, which would enable the two countries to develop a better understanding, adding that he had invited Qureshi to visit India.

“We are starting on this journey cognoscente of the complexities in our relations, the challenges that lie ahead and the promise that neighbourly relations hold for the people of both countries,” he added. (ANI)