May 11, 2002	Saturday	Safar 27, 1423

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WASHINGTON, May 10: United States Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca is due to travel to Pakistan and India early next week, it was learnt here on Friday.

Ms Rocca is expected to be in New Delhi on Tuesday and in Islamabad on Wednesday for meetings with senior Indian and Pakistani officials.

Her visit is believed to be linked to US concerns that tensions between India and Pakistan, whose troops face each other on the border, might escalate now that summer is beginning to lead to the opening of passes into Kashmir.

Troops were massed by Indian on the Pakistan border after last December’s attacks on the Indian parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Kashmiri activists, and the two countries have been in a standoff situation since then. Secretary of State Colin Powell had travelled to the region at that time and, aided by China, the US had managed to contain any possibility of conflict.

Militant activity in Kashmir had wound down somewhat during the winter months, but fears have been expressed here recently that there may be new tensions with the setting in of summer.

US concerns may also have been increased by reports that a RAW report due out soon blames Pakistan for not doing enough to contain cross-border terrorism, a charge that Islamabad has consistently denied, insisting that events in Kashmir are precipitated by Indian oppression and the resistance there is indigenous.