US envoy wants Indo-Pak dialogue revived

As US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is about to complete her New Delhi visit, the Obama administration has decided to send another key envoy, Richard Holbrooke, to South Asia on Monday.

Holbrooke comes for talks in New Delhi and Islamabad to revive Indo-Pakistan dialogue. According to foreign office circles in Islamabad, Holbrooke, although an envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, will also visit India this time.

After reaching Islamabad on Monday evening, he will hold talks with key government personalities.He will then travel to New Delhi to persuade the Indian leadership to resume talks with Pakistan, especially the composite dialogue which was suspended by New Delhi after 26/11.

Holbrooke will also make stops in Afghanistan and Brussels in Belgium. In the first six months of the Obama administration, there had been an “intensive focus on the challenge in South Asia”, according to US assistant secretary of state for public affairs Philip J Crowley. “We recognise it is ultimately greater integration among these countries, working on common challenges and finding new structures that will be able to expand this cooperation.”

“That will be how the region ultimately overcomes the challenges that it is facing,” Crowley added. —With inputs from agencies