Won’t Support Bill Declaring Pakistan a ‘Terrorist State’, Says US

Kirby expressed that Pakistan has kept its nuclear arsenals safe from terrorists.

John Kirby, Spokesperson, State Department. (Photo Courtesy: defenseimagery.mil)

The US on Friday said it does not support declaring Pakistan a 'terrorist state' but will continue to work with the governments in the region to eliminate safe havens, which also pose a threat to India.

The US also called for a "meaningful dialogue" between India and Pakistan to address differences, including the Kashmir issue and to bring down the recent tensions.

State Department spokesperson John Kirby, however, expressed confidence that Pakistan has kept nuclear arsenals safe from terrorists.

I think we’ve said before we’re confident that Pakistan has the security controls they need to have in place on their arsenal

John Kirby, Spokesperson State Department, US

Asked if the government would support a bill in the Congress and an online petition that the US should declare Pakistan a 'terrorist state', Kirby at his daily press briefing said:

I have not seen anything specifically about such a bill, and obviously we don’t (support it).

Kirby, however, said he would not comment on "whatever pending legislation may be coming in that regard". He said:

What I would say is common threat, common challenge in the region, and we’re going to continue to work with Pakistan, with Afghanistan... And obviously it’s a threat to the Indian people as well... So we’re going to continue to work with the governments in the region to try to address these common threats and challenges, and we’ve always said that more can be done about the safe havens and that’s – we’re going to, again, try to work as cooperatively as we can to that end.

Kashmir a Bilateral Issue, US Reiterates

Speaking about the Kashmir issue, Kirby clarified that the US' position on Kashmir has not changed and it is for India and Pakistan to address the problem.

On the Kashmir issue, our position has not changed. We want this to be worked out between both sides.

He added that the US wanted India and Pakistan to resolve their differences.

There are still differences of opinion that exist between them; and as I said earlier, we want them to work through those differences. We have differences with many countries too, and we continue to try to work through them.