WASHINGTON - Even as the US recognises that India and Pakistan are two sovereign nations, it can still do much to encourage them to continue to talk in the event of another Mumbai type of attack, according to Washington’s new envoy to India.

“I think there’s a lot of work here for me to do, and for the administration and the Congress to do,” Ambassador designate Timothy Roemer told the Senate Foreign Relations panel at his confirmation hearing Tuesday. “And that would certainly be one of the priorities.”

Asked by the panel’s Democratic chairman John Kerry if there had been a renewal of effort towards a composite dialogue between India and Pakistan since the November Mumbai terror attacks, he noted that some back channels were established between the Indian and the Pakistani governments during the Musharraf regime.

“I think it’s an important role for the United States to recognise that while Pakistan and India are two sovereign and independent nations, that there is much that we can do to encourage these two countries to continue to talk,” Roemer said.

The US could also encourage them “to exchange and to improve hotlines in case something happens in a Mumbai type of attack in the future, to — for us to try to encourage military-to-military understanding and exchanges, both within our country and possibly between their two countries,” he said.

India and the US could also share their experiences on counterinsurgency and counterterrorism, he told Democrat Russ Feingold. “I think there is much that we can learn from the Indians. They have a great deal of experience with counterinsurgency and counterterrorism. I think there’s much that we can impart to them.”

Citing his background on national security, and his work as a member of the 9/11 Commission, Roemer said: “There’s more we can do to share information about our common threats in that area, which are Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba, and try to prevent the next (Mumbai type) attack from taking place, or deflect that next attack.”

“The global meltdown, the financial challenges in the world and how to restructure that, and the terrorist attacks on Mumbai are two areas where our country and the government of India have rich possibilities to work together in strategic partnerships going forward,” he told Democrat senator Ted Kaufman.