Clinton suggests that Pak, Afghanistan holding 'breakthrough' talks

Washington, May 7 (ANI): US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that Afghanistan and Pakistan are holding "breakthrough" talks at the White House, where President Barack Obama is in the midst of two days of bilateral meetings and then a trilateral talk with President Hamid Karzai and President Asif Ali Zardari.

"I think the takeaway is that this process is producing some very promising early signs," Clinton told reporters at the White House on Wednesday afternoon.

"The level of cooperation between the governments of the two countries is increasing. The confidence-building that is necessary for this relationship to turn into tangible cooperation is moving forward," she said.

"And I think today's series of meetings is another step along that road. Being able to say democratically elected president of Pakistan is not a common phrase. And I think it's imperative that we support President Zardari and work with him, as he extends the reach of the government, not only on security, as essential as that is, but also on the range of needs of the Pakistani people," she added.

"With President Karzai, it was a very future-oriented conversation. We talked about the necessity to take real, concrete actions to make the kind of progress that Afghanistan desperately needs to see, to really deliver for the people of the country," she said.

How about getting Pakistan to stand down in its decades-long conflict with India, the secretary was asked. (ANI)