"On Pakistan, it was very clearly mentioned that pressure to act against cross-border terror had to continue, especially in areas covered by the FATF," said a source. While Indian ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran is expected to attend the signing of the peace deal in Doha, India continues to watch developments related to Afghanistan with some concern

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Afghanistan peace deal, and in the just concluded Indo-US summit, India conveyed to the US that it must not fritter away gains made in the past 19 years with a hasty withdrawal. Official sources said that the peace deal which the US is looking to cut with the Taliban should not let Pakistan off the hook in terms of the pressure that has been applied on Islamabad to act against cross-border terrorism in the past few years, official sources said.

Discussing the important outcomes from the visit, these sources said the US was supportive of India’s position that Pakistan can’t hide behind the excuse that cross-border terrorism is perpetrated only by non-state actors.

The Trump-Modi summit, according to India, saw the most comprehensive and substantive discussions between the two countries in recent years on not just security and strategic issues but also trade, technology, energy cooperation and regional and international cooperation. For the first time ever, as a source said, issues concerning H-1B visas and totalisation were raised at the summit level. On trade, the two sides agreed to give "legal shape" to the understanding already reached and the two countries are hopeful of concluding the first phase of negotiations soon.

"On Pakistan, it was very clearly mentioned that pressure to act against cross-border terror had to continue, especially in areas covered by the FATF," said a source. While Indian ambassador to Qatar P Kumaran is expected to attend the signing of the peace deal in Doha on February 29, India continues to watch developments related to Afghanistan with some concern, not least because of Pakistan’s claims of having played an important role in reaching the "historic" deal.

India is learnt to have made the point that the drawdown must not precipitate a crisis.

On J&K, the US is said to have acknowledged that focus was now on issues like development and promotion of tourism. "US is familiar with the level of normalcy in J&K since the visit of ambassador Kenneth Juster," official sources said.

President Trump apparently appeared very calm during the discussions and was ready to discuss issues at length. US authorities are also said to have told Indian officials that there was no offer of mediation by the US on Kashmir and that it was only Pakistan which was asking for it.

Some other important takeaways for the two countries, according to sources, were the focus on people-to-people contacts, Modi and Trump personal chemistry. Trump is learnt to have taken Modi’s electoral victory last year as something very significant and appreciated that Modi is "able to defend his country’s interests".

Official sources said the fact that 46 million people in India watched the Motera event on TV across 180 channels, and also that the visit got good coverage even in the US media, suggested there was strong support for Indo-US ties in both countries.

"The bond and respect which they share was palpable throughout the visit. Both had the ability to engage in serious discussions," sources here said.

During trade discussions, Indian officials pointed to the fact that the trade deficit had already been reducing and that there had been a 25 per cent increase in annual trade in the past two years. In the current year, it is expected to reach $ 160 billion. There was also some discussion on the Blue Dot Network, as the joint statement said, to promote transparency in global infrastructure development.