New Delhi: US President George W Bush gives priority to the nuclear deal with India and the Congress supports it too, said a senior American official on Friday.
Richard Boucher, US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, insisted that nuclear deal would not be affected because of the Republican party’s defeat in Congressional polls. “I expect that support will continue,” said Boucher, who discussed terrorism with Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.
Asked if US would pressure Islamabad on terrorism, Boucher said the terrorist groups responsible for attacks in India have “origin” and “links” in Pakistan. Boucher, however, insisted that India has not told USA anything about Pakistan's involvement in terrorism and said that the two countries ought to sort out their issues between themselves.
He refused to comment on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that India had "credible" evidence on Pakistan’s involvement in the July 11 Mumbai blasts.
"The Mumbai blasts and the series of blasts in India highlight the need to deal with the problem of terrorism," said Boucher.
"Many of the links (of groups) that are talked about go back to their origin and ties in Pakistan. We all need to work together against terrorism through effective actions so that people in India do not suffer from these blasts," the US official said.
He, however, added that all the groups blamed for terrorism in India have been banned in Pakistan as well. Boucher’s statement are important, as they come just ahead of the Foreign Secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan during which New Delhi is expected to convey its concerns over terrorism continuing to emanate from that country.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said that he was determined to end extremism and terrorism in his country, Boucher said.
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All need to work together to ensure that South Asian region "is not a source of terrorism", he added. On the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks to take place on November 14-15 here, the US official described it as a "very good thing" which "shows that both sides are interested in dealing with issues directly. Certainly, that is the obvious preference for those not involved."
On the joint anti-terror mechanism, he hoped that it would be useful and produce results. Asked whether the US believed al Qaeda had presence in India, he evaded a direct reply but said the terror network was operating in the region and countries like Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
"We have to assume that they operate globally against those fighting terrorism," Boucher said.
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