NEW YORK, June 11: Declaring that the United States will remain engaged in defusing the crisis in South Asia, US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday asked Pakistan to respond in kind to the steps taken by India to reduce tensions in the region.
Addressing the diplomats, and business leaders at the annual dinner by the Asia Society, Powell said US diplomatic initiatives had helped ease tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours over the Kashmir dispute which led India to allow Pakistan’s commercial flights to overfly its airspace.
“Pakistan has welcomed these moves, and I expect tomorrow President Musharraf will give us indications of how welcome these moves are,” Powell said.
“This is a step down the ladder. There is more to do. We are still in a period of crisis. The situation is still very tense.”
Powell said: “We have said to both the Indian and the Pakistani leaders, the United States will remain engaged, working with the international coalition, to find a way forward, to find a way to begin discussions between the two sides, to begin dialogue.”
He said the United States had worked closely with the European Union, the United Nations and with Russia, China and Britain to tell both sides “that a way must be found to solve this crisis quickly, without conflict.
“We have also received indications that the Indian fleet is moving away from potential confrontation with Pakistan. I am pleased to note that the Indians have named their new High Commissioner to Pakistan, who of course will be accredited in due course,” Powell said.
He observed that “one lesson in all of this is how the international community can come together and recognize a danger and work together to avert the consequences of that danger.”
“A few weeks ago we got assurances from President Musharraf that he would cease infiltration activity across the Line of Control,” Powell said.
“We passed those assurances on to the Indian side and then Deputy Secretary (Richard) Armitage this weekend got further assurances that cessation of activity would be visible, would be permanent and would be followed by other activities that had to do with the dismantling of the camps,” Powell said.
“I’m very pleased that the Indians received these assurances...and have used those assurances to start to take initial moves that relieved the tensions that exist in the region.”
Powell noted that “all sides now see that infiltration across the line of control, attacks across the line of control, have changed in terms of intensity. And I’ve also noted today that the shelling, the rate of shelling across the line of control, has also abated somewhat.”
