WASHINGTON – Various US media outlets reported on Friday that Washingtonwas maintaining regular contacts with both Islamabad and New Delhi and theUS military was backing these peace efforts.

However, Alyssa Ayres, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state forSouth Asia, told the National Public Radio that the United States did nothave the same influence that it did during the Kargil crisis, when Pakistanwas still a close ally.

“I don’t think the United States has the type of clout it might’ve had 35years ago.

But you have seen a consensus among the powers around the world all echoingeach other to create that kind of echo chamber about the kind of actionsPakistan should take,” she said.

Cameron Munter, a former US ambassador to Pakistan, told *CNBC* that Indiaand Pakistan needed to work on two crucial problems: large militarydeployments in India-held Kashmir and the presence of militant groups inPakistan.