NEW DELHI: Nikki Haley, the US envoy to the United Nations, on Thursdayattempted to woo India by making anti-Pakistan statements, saying hercountry cannot accept any government protecting terrorists.
“We are communicating this message to Pakistan more strongly than in thepast and we hope to see changes,” Haley told members of the ObserverResearch Foundation, an Indian think tank, according to an *AssociatedPress* report.
Pakistan’s cooperation is seen as key to the success of President DonaldTrump’s Afghanistan policy.
Pakistan is under pressure from Washington and the Afghan government tostop offering safe haven to militants blamed for attacks in Afghanistan, acharge Islamabad denies. Pakistan also insists its influence over theTaliban has been exaggerated.
India has also blamed a Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for attackson Mumbai in November 2008 that killed 166 people. The US has designatedthe group a terrorist organisation.
Haley said China was an important country and the United States, likeIndia, sought a productive relationship with it.
“But, unlike India, China does not share our commitment to democracy, therule of law, and fundamental freedoms. This makes China’s expansion ofloans and investments in countries in the region a matter of concern formany of us,” she said.
Haley said a failure by China to respect the rights of its people and therule of law would limit its ability to grow and prosper over the long term,and this would limit the United States’ relationship with China.
Earlier in the day, Haley undertook an interfaith journey in New Delhi,visiting a Hindu temple, a Sikh shrine, a mosque and a church in old partsof the capital.
Haley, who was born in South Carolina to Sikh immigrants from the northernIndian state of Punjab, rolled breads at the Sikh shrine, a religious wayof paying obeisance to Sikh gurus.
After visiting the Jama Masjid, one of India’s largest mosques, sheinteracted with a child sitting outside.
She is on her first visit to India since becoming the US ambassador to theUnited Nations in 2017. She met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi andExternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday.
Haley visited India in 2014 when she was governor of South Carolina.