ISLAMABAD: The United States said on Thursday it would support direct engagement between India and Pakistan after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi for securing a third term in office earlier this month.

The diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan have deteriorated significantly since August 5, 2019, when New Delhi revoked the special constitutional status of the disputed Himalayan region of Jammu and Kashmir, leading to heightened tensions and a series of retaliatory measures.

The two nuclear-armed neighbors expelled each other’s ambassadors and limited bilateral trade relations, as Modi’s administration decided to integrate the only Muslim-majority region with the rest of the Indian union and imposed a strict curfew and communication blackout in the area.

Pakistan and India have fought wars and a limited conflict over Kashmir since their independence in 1947. Both countries claim Kashmir in full, but control only parts of it.

“We value our important relationships with both India and Pakistan,” State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said during a media briefing in Washington while responding a question about the recent exchange between the top political leaders of the two South Asian states.

“As we have said, we support direct discussions between India and Pakistan, but the pace, scope and character should be determined by those two countries, not by us,” he added.

Miller was also asked about Pakistan’s interest in advanced US weapons to fight the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant network whose operatives have used American military equipment handed over to the Afghan National Army before the withdrawal of international forces. However, he simply mentioned the shared US-Pakistan interest in fighting against such groups.

“The United States and Pakistan have a shared interest in combating threats to regional security,” he said. “We partner with Pakistan on security through our high-level counterterrorism dialogue, including several counterterrorism capacity building programs, and we support a series of US-Pakistan military-to-military engagements.”

“We are in regular communication with the Pakistani leaders as a part of our partnership on CT [counterterrorism] issues, and we will continue to discuss regional security in detail, including through our annual counterterrorism dialogue and other bilateral consultations,” he added.

Pakistan’s interest in US weapons was recently expressed by its envoy to Washington, Ambassador Masood Khan.

Other Pakistani diplomats and officials have also raised concern over the use of automatic assault weapons and night-vision devices by TTP militants in the past.