WASHINGTON, Oct 31: Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday that India and Pakistan should take great care to avoid a “flare up” over Kashmir as the United States presses both countries to give full concentration to the US-led war on terrorism.

Mr Powell, who visited both countries earlier this month to press home that point, said he believed he had been largely successful but acknowledged continued deep concern about the situation over the disputed Himalayan region.

“We have been encouraging both sides to exercise restraint, more than we normally would encourage them to do,” Mr Powell told newsmen in an interview.

“This is not the time to see a flare-up or an exchange that might escalate,” he said, adding that Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee appeared to recognize the US position.

“I think both sides understand that and we get assurances from both sides that they do understand it and notwithstanding reports ... that something (in Kashmir) was about to happen imminently, nothing has happened beyond what one sees on a steady basis,” Mr Powell said.—AFP