"Kashmir is so sensitive in the relations between India and Pakistan that I think it is best left to the Indians and Pakistanis to work on together," said Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs.

"I think both governments desire it to be so and, obviously, we wish them well," he said in a question-and-answer session after speaking on US policy toward India in his speech at the New York-based Asia Society.

Burns was responding to a question whether Washington could play any role in the Kashmir issue, especially amid its warming ties with India.

The Himalayan territory of Kashmir has been the focal point of two wars between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947.

Around one third of the scenic region is under Pakistani control and two thirds is administered by India.

The two countries nearly came to war again over Kashmir in 2002 before entering a cautious peace process in January last year.

A deadly earthquake this month killed more than 41,000 people in Pakistani Kashmir and some 1,300 people in Indian-held Kashmir, but relief and other initiatives by the neighbors gave reconciliation a dramatic boost.

Burns said, "We have been encouraged to see the nascent rapprochement between India and Pakistan and if there is a way for the United States and other countries to be helpful, we would be helpful.

"But we should be under no illusions. These are two very proud, very rich countries in terms of their history, culture and the sense of themselves and they are going about this rapprochment in their own way."

He cautioned however that the United States "shouldn't consider ourselves the intermediaries in this process and neither country see us as the intermediary."

Burns also defended potential US sale of F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan even as Washington forged a strategic partnership with India, saying Islamabad was "a very important ally" to the United States.

"Yes, we have committed to extend military assistance to the government of Pakistan... and we will continue to try to be as helpful as we can. President (Pervez) Musharraf is a very strong friend of the United States," he said.

Pakistan will buy 77 F-16 fighter jets from the United States by 2007, news reports from Islamabad said recently.

The United States had earlier blocked the sale of the planes in line with sanctions against Pakistan over its nuclear program. But in March, Washington announced that it will sell the F-16s to the country.

"When we talk about strategic partnership with India it doesn't mean we are somehow calling into question our partnership with Pakistan," Burns said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush forged a groundbreaking pact three months ago on a wide range of cooperative initiatives and the launching of a new strategic partnership.

The partnership agreement included landmark civil nuclear energy cooperation.

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