The US ambassador to India said that the US deeply regretted the injuries, loss of lives, damage to property and the difficulties that have taken place this last summer in Kashmir.
In a snub to Pakistan, the US today said Kashmir is an internal matter of India which will only decide when to take it up bilaterally with Islamabad.
"We duly note that this (Kashmir) is an indigenous and internal issue to India and when India decides to take this issue on they will do it in a bilateral sense with Pakistan, at the appropriate scope, level and pace they want to engage in," US ambassador to India Timothy Roemer told Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate programme for CNN-IBN.
He said that the US deeply regretted the injuries, loss of lives, damage to property and the difficulties that have taken place this last summer in Kashmir.
Roemer also recalled that President Barack Obama had clearly told his Pakistan counterpart Asif Ali Zardari that the US will not be part of any military build up against India.
"US will not be part of any kind of military build up against the people of India. Let me be clear Mr Zardari," Roemer said, quoting Obama from a recent book authored by Bob Woodward.
Roemer pointed out that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been favouring a stable Pakistan as it was in India's interest so that it can grow at 8-9% a year and have more inclusive growth.
Seeking to allay India's apprehensions on US arms sale to Pakistan, he said the weapons were targeted at terrorists and not at India and the American Congress will ensure that they are used for the intended purpose.
"Some of the arms sales the US has to Pakistan are geared to counter-insurgency efforts to concentrate on the cancer and on the terrorism internally that can further destabilise Pakistan that is not in India's interest at all. Therefore these weapons are targeted at terrorists not at India," Roemer said.
Asked how the US would ensure that the weapons sold to Pakistan are not used against India, Roemer said the American Congress would make sure that the arms are used for intended purposes.
The envoy also pointed out that the India-US Caucus has 40 senators as members who could act as a pressure group to ensure that the arms sold to Pakistan are used against terrorists.
"Forty percent of the Senate is part of the India-US caucus... They will ensure that the weapons are used for their intended purposes," Roemer said.
On reports that US authorities were aware of David Headley planning the Mumbai attack, he said American investigators had "regularly and consistently" shared intelligence inputs on 26/11 with India.
"There was no delay, we shared the information on 26/11. We shared it regularly, consistently," Roemer said.
The US had also given Indian investigators "unfettered access" to question Headley in the US, a step which he termed as "extraordinary".
He sought to dismiss differences over outsourcing as "small irritants" and pointed out that over the years India has moved from being the 25th largest trading partner of the US to the 14th biggest partner.
"Let us talk about 99% of the US-India commerce and trade story which is positive or strategic relationship," was Roemer's refrain.
On US concerns over the civil nuclear liability bill, he said the disagreements and concerns will have to be ironed out in the future.
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