The United States today said, it is encouraged by the decision taken by the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan to resume dialogue. The US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said in Washington that , the US understands that it was a very positive and cordial meeting to be followed by discussions by the Foreign Ministers of both countries. The 90-minutes meeting between the two leaders were their first substantive engagement after their discussions in Sharm-el- Sheikh in Egypt in July last year. Crowley said that both countries agreed to resume dialogue at the level of Foreign Ministers soon that could lead to parleys on all outstanding issues including terrorism. He said, the two Prime Ministers have entrusted their Foreign Ministers and Foreign Secretaries with the responsibility of restoring confidence and trust in the relations that could pave the way for substantive dialogue on outstanding issues of mutual concern.Encouraging both countries to resume talks through bilateral discussions, the US had sent Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake to the SAARC Summit as an observer. Crowley also said that, the United States will provide a total of 4.4 billion US Dollars this year as bilateral assistance programs to member countries of the SAARC and additional money for various regional assistance programs.