WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department downplayed Wednesday criticism by a former Indian official who questioned the U.S. role in starting Indian-Pakistani talks.
"We have praised the statesmen-like initiatives that have been taken by the Indian and Pakistani leaders, and we try to support them at every juncture in a variety of ways," department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The comments follow remarks by Secretary of State Colin Powell during an Oct. 18 interview to USA Today. He recounted how, following a conversation with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, he facilitated in April 2003 a phone call between the then Indian and Pakistani leaders.
"We set it up, the call was made," Powell said.
In New Delhi Tuesday, former Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh took exception.
"The way he (Powell) has gone about claiming credit is a total concoction and a matter of imagination," he said.
India and Pakistan have for the past year engaged in high-level diplomacy to normalize relations that have been strained by three wars since independence in 1947.
