By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : The US says it does not want to see any type of actions that destabilise South Asia following the Mumbai terror attacks that India has blamed on Pakistan based terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“Well, we don’t give warnings,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Monday when asked whether the US has given India any warnings that any attack against Pakistan could destabilise the region, as a US media report suggested.
The CNN had earlier cited three unnamed Pentagon officials as suggesting that the Indian Air Force had started preparing for a strike against Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks and a number of senior US officials had urged India to exercise restraint.
“Look, we’ve talked to both countries about the importance of cooperating in terms of this investigation of Mumbai attacks. We obviously don’t want to see tensions in the region escalate,” Wood said.
“We think, actually, that promoting this type of cooperation between the two governments will help, you know, ease tensions in the region. But I don’t have anything beyond that,” he said.
Asked if an Indian attack against Pakistan would destabilise the region, Wood said: “Well, I’m not going to speculate about something that hasn’t happened or – but let’s just say we don’t want to see any type of actions that destabilise the region.”
Meanwhile at the United Nations, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters that the US is working with both India and Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks to justice.
US is also working with both the countries to ensure that there is no repeat of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, she said.
“You know, what we are trying to do… the key here is that the parties need to focus on – and I think we are focusing – on both bringing the perpetrators to justice and prevention of any follow on attacks,” Rice said.
“We have been very clear in our views,” she said, adding: “We are continuing to cooperate (with) both India and Pakistan in that regard.”