Referring to the telephonic call made by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday, the spokesman said the two leaders talked about the need to stay focused on terrorism not just in Pakistan but in the region. The Secretary stressed that it was obviously United States interest that Pakistan and India continue to look forward for ways to work better together to reduce the tensions "to obviously to work better together on terrorism concerns but to reduce the tensions between the two countries" the spokesman added.
Replying to a question about the desire of people in Pakistan and India for peace, the spokesman said the United States was committed to that end. "These are tough issues, and these are some very complicated relationship. We''re mindful of the stress that this has on local populations. We''re mindful of the insecurity that many people are faced with and dealing with every day, not just in that region but elsewhere around the world, which is why we here at the State Department remain so focused and committed to working bilaterally and multilaterally on counter-terrorism challenges," he said.
To a question about the proposed talks between Pakistan and India scheduled for the middle of the month, the spokesman said that the Secretary spoke about it during his telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Sharif. The Secretary encouraged India and Pakistan to work bilaterally to continue discussions and to try to work through these problems," he said.