Talbott welcomes Manmohan-Musharraf talks

New Delhi, Sep 18 (UNI) Former US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott today welcomed the recent talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf at Havana on the fringes of the NAM Summit and, denied any ''nudge'' by Washington to both countries for resuming the stalled peace process.

''I have no idea whether there was an American nudge. I doubt it.

I don't think that the Prime Minister (Manmohan Singh) needed it...(President) Musharraf also needed to be congratulated for a hopeful movement,'' Mr Talbott, now President of a US-think tank Brookings Institution, said at a seminar here.

On the issue of terrorism, Mr Talbott said the US was using its influence ''very, very effectively'' on Pakistan particularly after 9/11.

Even at the time of Kargil, India seemed to have a significant degree of ''strartegic confidence'' to take risks for peace because of obvious conditions.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also has that ''strategic confidence for taking risks for peace'' he said and wished Pakistan too had such confidence.

Mr Talbott admitted that the recent developments in Baluchistan had further complicated the situation.

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