PTI, Washington :
Asserting that the US’ ties with India and Pakistan were not a ‘zero-sum game’, the White House has said that the Trump administration’s priorities and the nature of relationship with India and Pakistan were different.
“We seek to have an effective partnership with each country. With India, we’re building that strategic partnership. We see India’s role and influence growing. We like to encourage that trend. So, we’re looking for ways to cooperate on our mutual interests,” a senior administration official told reporters at a news conference in Washington.
“With Pakistan, we seek to have a productive partnership working together. But frankly, the priorities are different, and the nature of the relationships are different. So, I think that we would like to move forward with both countries. We realise that the pace and scope of that relationship is going to be different in each case,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said in response to a question on concerns in Pakistan with regard to increasing ties with India.
“I want to make the point here that US relationships with India and Pakistan really stand on their own merits and terms. We don’t see a zero-sum relationship when it comes to the US relationship with Pakistan and the US relationship with India. We’re certainly eager to deepen the strategic partnership with India,” he said. “We see this as the US and India have mutual security interests that they want to advance, and we believe that the defence sales that are being discussed will help advance those,” the official said.
Meanwhile, a senior Trump official yesterday said that India and the US have a common objective in Afghanistan, and the two countries could increase their cooperation to enhance the Afghan economy. “India has played a positive role in Afghanistan, the US believes. They have pledged over USD 3 billion in assistance to Afghanistan.
The Afghans appreciate the kind of support and assistance that the Indians have provided-I’m not just talking about the government, I’m talking about the population,” the official told reporters. “When they’ve done polling, there’s a very positive feeling toward India and the kind of assistance-they’ve assisted in the education sector, the health sector. They built the parliament building. They support democracy, democratic development there,” he said, listing out the developmental activities by India in the war-torn country.
The Washington Post adds on Friday reported that former president Barack Obama was informed by the CIA last August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a cyber-campaign to disrupt the U.S. presidential race but took little action to deter further interference in the months leading up to the November election. The Post’s article cited criticism of Obama by former members of his administration, including one who said, “I feel like we sort of choked.” Ordinarily a report of this nature would thrill Trump loyalists, who relish opportunities to cast Obama as having been weak and indecisive, especially on foreign policy matters.
Yet embracing The Post story would seem to require acknowledging an underlying premise – that Russia did, in fact, meddle in the election. Trump himself has refused to fully endorse the consensus view of U.S. intelligence agencies. And some of his biggest boosters have completely rejected it, ostensibly because conceding that Russia worked to elect Trump might diminish the president’s victory.
Asserting that the US’ ties with India and Pakistan were not a ‘zero-sum game’, the White House has said that the Trump administration’s priorities and the nature of relationship with India and Pakistan were different.
“We seek to have an effective partnership with each country. With India, we’re building that strategic partnership. We see India’s role and influence growing. We like to encourage that trend. So, we’re looking for ways to cooperate on our mutual interests,” a senior administration official told reporters at a news conference in Washington.
“With Pakistan, we seek to have a productive partnership working together. But frankly, the priorities are different, and the nature of the relationships are different. So, I think that we would like to move forward with both countries. We realise that the pace and scope of that relationship is going to be different in each case,” the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said in response to a question on concerns in Pakistan with regard to increasing ties with India.
“I want to make the point here that US relationships with India and Pakistan really stand on their own merits and terms. We don’t see a zero-sum relationship when it comes to the US relationship with Pakistan and the US relationship with India. We’re certainly eager to deepen the strategic partnership with India,” he said. “We see this as the US and India have mutual security interests that they want to advance, and we believe that the defence sales that are being discussed will help advance those,” the official said.
Meanwhile, a senior Trump official yesterday said that India and the US have a common objective in Afghanistan, and the two countries could increase their cooperation to enhance the Afghan economy. “India has played a positive role in Afghanistan, the US believes. They have pledged over USD 3 billion in assistance to Afghanistan.
The Afghans appreciate the kind of support and assistance that the Indians have provided-I’m not just talking about the government, I’m talking about the population,” the official told reporters. “When they’ve done polling, there’s a very positive feeling toward India and the kind of assistance-they’ve assisted in the education sector, the health sector. They built the parliament building. They support democracy, democratic development there,” he said, listing out the developmental activities by India in the war-torn country.
The Washington Post adds on Friday reported that former president Barack Obama was informed by the CIA last August that Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a cyber-campaign to disrupt the U.S. presidential race but took little action to deter further interference in the months leading up to the November election. The Post’s article cited criticism of Obama by former members of his administration, including one who said, “I feel like we sort of choked.” Ordinarily a report of this nature would thrill Trump loyalists, who relish opportunities to cast Obama as having been weak and indecisive, especially on foreign policy matters.
Yet embracing The Post story would seem to require acknowledging an underlying premise – that Russia did, in fact, meddle in the election. Trump himself has refused to fully endorse the consensus view of U.S. intelligence agencies. And some of his biggest boosters have completely rejected it, ostensibly because conceding that Russia worked to elect Trump might diminish the president’s victory.
