Resumption of Indo-Pak bilateral talks very important: Clinton - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Stressing that pending issues between India and Pakistan should be resolved amicably by both countries, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that a resumption of bilateral talks is very important. In an interview with the BBC, the transcripts of which was released by the State Department here, Clinton said Washington is encouraging both countries to resume talks, which were discontinued after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. "We are encouraging them (India and Pakistan) to get back into dialogue. We think that (dialogue) is important. But with respect to any resolution, that's up to them," Clinton said in response to a query about whether the Obama administration is looking to play a part in the Kashmir issue. "Well, we have encouraged both countries to resume a dialogue that they were engaged in, which came to a halt and yet holds a lot of promise. They had made progress, I am told, in sorting through some of the longstanding difficulties they face, and most particularly the status of Kashmir," she added. Clinton underlined it was important to resolve pending issues, as Washington believes it should be done by the two states only. "But it is clear that any solution has to come from the two countries themselves," she said. India's official position is that Kashmir is an 'integral part' of India, while Pakistan maintains that Kashmir is a disputed territory whose final status must be determined by the people of the region and under the UN resolutions of 1948 and 1949.