Ask India to pull back troops first, Pak tells US

Washington, May 5 (ANI): Pakistan has asked the United States to tell India to pull back its troops from its eastern border before asking Islamabad to do so.

Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani, said Obama should first ask India to pull back from the eastern border, and then ask Pakistan to shift focus towards the western Afghan border.

"It's time for Obama to put in a call to the Indians telling them, 'If you move some of your troops, they'll move theirs," the Washington Post quoted Haqqani, as saying.

Haqqani's statement comes a day ahead of the scheduled tripartite summit between the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It is believed that the Obama Administration may mount pressure on Pakistan to shift much of its 250,000 troops from the Indian side towards the Afghan border to counter the Taliban and Al-Qaeda spill over.

Besides this it is also expected that Washington would ask Islamabad to allow India extend its business ties with Afghanistan through the Wagah border.

Off late, Washington has made it clear to Islamabad that its 'obsession' with India as a mortal threat is misguided.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has already clarified that the trilateral summit would see discussions on specific topics which America believes are of more importance than some other issues. (ANI)