NEW DELHI: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late on Monday Sep 26 that he had discussed with his Pakistani counterpart what he called a responsible relationship with neighbouring India.
Blinken said it came after India's defence and foreign ministers opposed the US decision to provide a support package of about US $450 million for Pakistan's fleet of US-made F-16 fighter jets.
In our discussions today, we talked about the importance of a responsible relationship with India, Blinken said after meeting Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
Asked about the F-16 deal, US State DepartmentState Department spokeswoman Ned Price said the United States had independent relations with India and Pakistan.
Price said that the relationship between India and India is on its own and the relationship between Pakistan and India is on its own. We want to make sure that these neighbours have relations with each other that are as constructive as possible. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, mainly over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir.
In January, they engaged in an aerial battle during which India said it had shot down a Pakistani F-16 after one of its own jets was brought down. Pakistan denied that one of its F-16 s was downed.
People-to-people contact between the countries, formed by a split of British India in 1947, ended virtually overnight after the 2019 clashes.