Worried Pakistan asks US to help bring India to talks, The Nation newspaper says

ISLAMABAD - Washington has responded to a worried Pakistan pressuring the US government to help bring India to the negotiating table, unnamed official Pakistani sources told the newspaper, The Nation.

This, despite the US being " suspicious of Pakistan's+ anti-terror role", Pakistan foreign ministry sources added.

"Pakistan did not want the region to be pushed to war," a Pakistan foreign ministry official told The Nation.

"Washington has told us the whole West and India doubt Pakistan's credentials on anti-terrorism war. They are convinced regarding our efforts for talks but believe India may be right to doubt us," an official is quoted by The Nation as saying.

"Pakistan had complained to the US that India was avoiding talks despite multiple offers from Pakistan", the official added.

Another official told the paper that Washington had asked Pakistan to improve+ its "anti-terror image" as it tries to bring India to the dialogue table.

Recent appeals by the US for dialogue



between the two countries - usually communicated through near-daily US State Department briefings - were actually a result of Pakistan pressing Washington about persuading India for talks, the foreign ministry sources told The Nation.

"Like us they believe talks is the best way out but they still keep on asking us to do more. We have been telling them all these weeks that we had nothing to do with Uri attack+ or any such incident," a Pakistan foreign ministry official told The Nation.

In yet another stern warning to Pakistan, the US earlier this week said it is working very hard to push Islamabad to go after terrorist groups that seek safe haven on its soil and territory. State Department spokesman Mark Toner added that Islamabad and New Delhi must adopt a "conciliatory approach" to resolve their issues.

Tension between India and Pakistan has escalated following the Uri terror attack last month, and after India's retaliatory strikes in Pakistani-occupied-Kashmir. The Uri attack killed 19 soldiers.