US may baulk at cross-border terrorism from Pakistan

With battle against terrorism expected to top the agenda of talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush here tomorrow, Washington has indicated that it would publicly baulk at the cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

India will expect the US, according to analysts, to condemn Pakistani-backed terrorism against India in Jammu and Kashmir as it mentions terrorist activity in various countries.

However, India is somehow omitted in Bush's references to victims of terrorism though India has suffered far more casualties at the hands of Pakistan-backed terrorists than the American casualties on 9/11 in 2001 and now in Iraq.

When asked directly at his briefing about Pakistani media reports that terrorist camps in Pakistan had reopened or were continuing, a senior US official fudged his reply by saying: "We want to see the development of the best possible relationship between Pakistan and India.

"The progress they have made is really unprecedented. This is an important issue," he said. Senior US officials are willing to confirm the reopening of the camps but they are tongue-tied to make public statements to that effect.

On the issue of technology transfer from the US to India, the Bush administration has indicated it is impressed by the speed with which New Delhi has taken steps for export control regime.

The senior official said many of the old hurdles in bilateral co-operation in technology transfer had been removed. "We are very impressed," he said, "by the speed at which the Indian government has taken serious steps to strengthen export control regimes on weapons of mass destruction".

"We have seen a real commitment by the Indian government to meet what all of us believe are important international responsibilities. The NSSP (next steps in strategic partnership) is important in that relationship. We are very close now, very close, to the completion of the NSSP," said the official.

The fact sheet, which will be made public after the Bush-Singh talks, is expected to underline various areas where further close the Indo-US co-operation is expected.

The Americans had India very much in the equation as they consider the future of Asia in the context of emerging China, the official said.