By IANS,
Washington : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apparently did not consult New Delhi as Washington mounted pressure on the Pakistani leadership to defuse the crisis over the reinstatement of sacked judges.
“I’m not aware of any calls that the Secretary made to Indian leaders. I don’t believe she made any over this weekend,” State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters Monday when asked if Clinton had made any calls to Indian leadership over the crisis in Pakistan.
“It’s hard to speculate as to what’s going to come next in Pakistan,” he said declining to say how the events may unfold after the reinstatement of Iftikhar Chaudhry as chief justice, who was sacked by former president Gen Pervez Musharraf.
What Clinton and other officials like US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne Patterson and US Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke had “tried to do is to make the Pakistan leadership understand that this crisis can’t continue the way it’s been going on.
“…there needs to be political dialogue, there needs to be a reconciliation. Peaceful assembly is important. We want to see that happen,” Wood said.
“But in the end, these were decisions that were taken by the Pakistani leadership, and I think it’s important to recognise that. And only the Pakistanis could bring themselves back from the brink. It’s not anything the United States could have done,” he said.