April 8 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S., India and Pakistan face a common challenge in tackling militancy in the region, Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, said at a news conference in New Delhi today.

Holbrooke and Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held regional security talks with Indian officials after visiting neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan. The U.S. wants India’s cooperation in its effort to tackle militants emanating from Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“For the first time since partition,” the national interests of the three countries are at stake over a single issue, Holbrooke said. The center of this common threat lies in Pakistan, he said.

The U.S. is boosting forces in Afghanistan and increasing aid to Pakistan to defeat al-Qaeda terrorists and other Islamic militants who pose a global as well as regional threat. President Barack Obama has announced $1.5 billion a year in economic aid to Pakistan to fight the militants.

Holbrooke also said that Afghan President Hamid Karzai will remain in office between terms as the nation elects a new leader. He said India’s was critical in helping to resolving the conflicts in the region.

“We can’t settle issues like Afghanistan without India’s full involvement,” Holbrooke said. India’s Afghanistan aid program parallels U.S. priorities, he said.

India Talks

The two officials said they were in India to inform officials of their discussions on their trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. They didn’t talk about India ties in Pakistan, Holbrooke said.

India wants the U.S. to focus on the dismantling of what it says are militant camps on Pakistani soil and hold that country’s government accountable for this.

India has blamed terrorist “elements” from Pakistan for the Nov. 26-29 assault in Mumbai that left 164 people dead. The attacks interrupted a five-year peace process between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947.

To contact the reporters on this story: James Rupert in New Delhi at jrupert3@bloomberg.net; Bibhudatta Pradhan in New Delhi at bpradhan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 8, 2009 06:33 EDT