India and the United States on Tuesday asked Pakistan to “meaningfully address” the concerns of the international community on terrorism exported from its soil. The statement was issued after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and his US counterpart, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale, held consultations at the US State Department in Washington, PTI reported.
The statement comes in the wake of the terrorist attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama. The attack, for which the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad group took responsibility, killed 40 Indian soldiers.
“Both sides called on Pakistan to meaningfully address the concerns of the international community on terrorism, including cross-border terrorism,” the Indian Embassy in Washington DC said in a statement.
On Monday, Gokhale met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The two decided that Pakistan must take “concerted action” to dismantle terror infrastructure and deny safe haven to terror organisations. “They also agreed that those who support or abet terrorism in any form should be held accountable,” a statement issued after the meeting read.
Gokhale had arrived in the United States on Sunday for the bilateral Foreign Office Consultation and Strategic Security Dialogue, with David Hale and Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Andrea Thompson, in addition to Pompeo. At the meeting, both Gokhale and Pompeo expressed satisfaction over the progress of the India-US Strategic Partnership since the first 2+2 ministerial meeting in September last year.
However, the United States asked India not to be Venezuela’s “economic lifeline,” The Hindu reported on Tuesday. Responding to a reporter’s question about India’s oil purchases, Pompeo said: “Yeah, so we’re asking the same thing of India as we are of every country: Do not be the economic lifeline for the [Nicolas] Maduro regime.”
“I’m very confident – in the same way that India has been incredibly supportive of our efforts on Iran, I’m confident that they, too, understand the real threat to the Venezuelan people,” Pompeo added. Venezuela slid into turmoil after Opposition leader Juan Guaido, who assumed the presidency in January, was endorsed by the United States as the legitimate leader.
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