It will take time for India, Pak to overcome trust deficit: US

I / Washington May 25, 2010, 14:20 IST

The US has voiced support for a pledge by leaders of India and Pakistan to work to improve bilateral ties, but said that overcoming the trust deficit between the two countries would be a time-consuming job.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley said that "notwithstanding a trust deficit" there is a pledge between the leaders of the two South Asian rivals "to work very earnestly to improve relations".

"We, the United States, certainly support that," he said in response to a question at his daily press conference.

"As we've said many times, it will take time to overcome that (trust deficit), but certainly mutual commitment to high-level dialogue is a step in the right direction," Crowley said.

Earlier, he said that Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns met a wide range of senior Indian officials in New Delhi.

Prominent among them were Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

"His discussions have centred on the upcoming June 1 through 4 US-India strategic dialogue," he said.