US evades query over India’s foreign assassinations admission

WASHINGTON: The United States (US) Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller declined to comment on why US has not yet sanctioned Indian government despite open admission of assassination attempts of its citizens on US soil by Indian ministers.

During a press briefing in Washington on Monday, the spokesperson declined to comment. Miller stated that “I am never going to preview any sanctions or actions, which is not to say that there are any coming, but when you say to talk about sanctions, it is something we don’t discuss openly”.

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On a question of the Indian Defense Minister in the Prime Minister Modi’s government openly admitting to carrying out assassination on foreign soil, Miller firmly stated that the US would not involve itself in the matter, considering it an issue between India and Pakistan only.

“As I have said before, the US is not going to get in the middle of this. But we do encourage both India and Pakistan to avoid escalation and find a resolution through dialogue”.

On the topic of Pakistani Foreign Minster’s trip to the United States, including the aim of initiating discussions with the IMF over a new multi-billion dollar loan agreement, the spokesperson said that his country is receptive of Pakistan’s engagements with the international financial organization for more loan programmes. He went on to state that Pakistan’s economic success was a top priority for the US with respect to its relationship with Pakistan.

“We welcome last month’s announcement that the IMF has reached a staff level agreement with Pakistan. We understand that, as you said, the Pakistani Minister of Finance is in town here in Washington for meeting at the IMF and World Bank

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“Pakistan has made progress to stabilise its economy and we support its efforts to manage its daunting debt burden. We encourage the government to prioritise and expand economic reforms to address its economic challenges.

“Our support for the country’s economic success is unwavering and we will continue to engage with Pakistan through technical agreements as well as through our trade and investment ties, all of which are our priorities of our bilateral relationship”.