New Delhi
US Permanent Representative to United Nations Nikki Haley on Thursday asked Pakistan to stop harbouring terror groups.

On a day when the Jammu-Kashmir police blamed elements across LoC for the killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari, Haley said the US was approaching its relationship with its frontline partner “differently than in the past”.

“But we cannot tolerate its (Pakistan) government, or any other government, giving safe haven to terrorists. We won’t tolerate it. We are communicating this message to Pakistan more strongly than in the past and we hope to see changes,” she said.

Haley, who is here on a two-day visit, had earlier met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and other top officials. Delivering a special address on “Advancing India-US Relations” at an the Observer Research Foundation event, she recalled Mumbai terror strikes of 2008 in which American citizens were also killed and sought greater India-US counter-terrorism cooperation . “Neither of our nations can afford to turn a blind eye to the regimes that produce, harbour and support terrorists,” she said.

The Indo-American Republican leader in the Trump administration also criticised China for its economic aggression. “Unlike India, China does not share our commitment to democracy, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms. This makes China’s expansion of loans and investments in countries in the region a matter of concern for many of us,” she said. Haley batted for India’s entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group while praising its non-proliferation record. Born to Indian immigrant parents with roots in Punjab, she called the Indo-American community as “highly educated and philanthropic”.

Asked about Trump’s immigration crackdown impacting Indians too, Haley sought to make a difference and said, “We believe in legal immigration. We cannot start to have illegal immigrants come to America when terrorism is starting to be predominantly around.”

Haley who visited Humayun’s Tomb and undertook an interfaith tour of Old Delhi, underlined the need for religious freedom. “It reminded me that, of all the things America and India share, freedom of religion is one of the most important. Nations as diverse as ours can only be held together by true tolerance and respect,” she said.

Speaking of her roots, she recalled her parents meeting and falling in love in Dharamsala and moving to the US with eight dollars in their pocket five decades ago as well as her visit to Golden Temple during her last visit to India as the Governor of South Carolina.