US bats for dialogue between India, Pakistan militaries amid escalated tension

Washington: The US has encouraged continued communication between Indian and Pakistani militaries to reduce tension, saying American officials are in contact with both the neighbouring countries. “We are aware that the Indian and Pakistani militaries have been in communication with one another and we encourage these continued discussions between India and Pakistan as a means to reduce any tensions that may be out there,” Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said. [caption id=“attachment_2950276” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] “We are encouraged by that and we certainly would encourage those conversations to continue,” he told reporters on Tuesday while responding to questions on the current tension between the two countries after the Uri terror attack. US officials are in contact with both the countries, he said. Cook said US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and the US government hope that tensions between Pakistan and India would be lowered and that there would be an effort at communication here to try and address those concerns. “That is certainly a view that he shares with others in the US government,” he said. America’s view on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons are clear, he said. “This is obviously something that this government and others around the world want to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. And that is something that our views on that are quite clear,” Cook added.