Hyderabad: United States on October 10 hoped that successful completion of elections in Jammu and Kashmir would pave way for resumption of diplomatic dialogue between India and Pakistan and expressed desire to "engage both the sides again".

"Though elections alone can not solve the problems between India and Pakistan, it is an important component and we think that poll process will be a positive start," the US Ambassador Robert Blackwill told in Hyderabad.

Blackwill, who is on a two-day visit to the city, refused to be drawn into debate over poll outcome in Kashmir saying "it would be improper to comment on domestic political configurations. We would say nothing on individual results".

Stating that United States condemned terrorist violence during the poll process, he said terrorism directed against India from "any direction or group" was unacceptable.

"After Kashmir and Pakistan elections are behind us, we hope we can make assessments and we will be engaging both sides again," he said.

Asserting that India was "one of the closest partners" of the US in its war against terrorism, Blackwill disagreed with a suggestion that his country was not mounting enough pressure on Pakistan to stop supporting cross border terrorism.

"We have made it clear to Musharraf, there is no doubt about it, infiltration should end permanently," the visiting Ambassador said.

PTI