US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday (local time) said that his country has been unambiguous in its partnership with India on the issue of terrorism, whether it emanates from Pakistan or anywhere else.
"We have been unambiguous in our partnership with the Indian Government about terror, terror from wherever it emanates, whether it is from inside of Pakistan or from anyplace else," he said while addressing the joint press conference after the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
"We are determined to protect the American people from the threat of terrorism and we're determined to work with our great democratic friends like the Indians to protect the people of India as well, and we'll continue to work on it," he added.
Pompeo's reply came after being asked by ANI whether there were any discussions on regional stability, particularly taking out terror from Pakistan that targets India-Afghanistan.
"I am proud of the work we have done. It is very sophisticated. We have strong intelligence relationships, we have strong diplomatic relationships, and we do really good work taking down the risk of terrorism that threatens each of our two peoples," Pompeo said.
Pompeo also said that he was "deeply appreciative of the work that the Indian Government under Prime Minister Modi has done to ensure that we continue to improve that" and "as our adversaries evolve and their strategies and tactics evolve, that we match them moment for a moment to keep our people safe, collectively."
Responding to the same question by ANI, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "In terms of terrorism in our region, again, a lot of it is obvious. It doesn't need reiteration. So we did exchange notes in - of the challenges in our region and what have been the newer developments on that front, and this is an area where the two countries actually have a very strong history of cooperating. And I can only say this in terms of public record that I am very satisfied with the discussions we have had today."
"Rule of law was one of the many characteristics that we brought to the table in approaching Indo-Pacific. It is something - an approach that we share with the United States, and certainly what we do, how we look at activities in that region, this - there are many other factors as well, but that is certainly one factor in our outlook," Jaishankar said when asked by ANI "How do you see the U.S.