Blinken talks Quad with India and counterterrorism with Pakistan

Phone calls with South Asian rivals signal warmer tone toward New Delhi

Pakistani Rangers and Indian Border Security Force officers at Wagah border, near Lahore, Pakistan. The two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals are increasingly at odds, with New Delhi firmly in Washington's camp and Pakistan moving increasingly closer to Beijing. © Reuters

WAJAHAT KHAN, Nikkei staff writer

January 30, 2021 07:08 JST

NEW YORK -- Three days after being confirmed as America's top diplomat, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed security with South Asia's two major powers -- nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan -- on Friday, although the tone of the talks differed greatly in conversations with his counterparts.

While the discussion with New Delhi centered mainly on battling the coronavirus pandemic and security in the Indo-Pacific, communication with Islamabad was based on counterterrorism and the peace process in Afghanistan.