NEW DELHI, July 29: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday that he was satisfied with his visit to India and Pakistan and that he expected the two countries to resume dialogue later this year.
The Press Trust of India quoted Mr Powell as telling reporters in Bangkok that his talks in New Delhi and Islamabad had not been aimed at reaching a breakthrough, rather at keeping reduced tensions low.
Mr Powell “hinted gingerly that conditions for a resumption of dialogue could be in place before the end of the year, perhaps after elections in Kashmir and parliamentary elections in Pakistan, both set for October,” PTI said.
“I am satisfied with the visit, it was not as though we were on the eve of war,” he said as he flew to the Thai capital from Islamabad. “This was just an effort to keep the momentum moving.”
Mr Powell said he was pleased with the messages he had received from Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf even though public comments from the two sides during his trip had been strident.
Indian officials, Mr Powell said, had reiterated their commitment to resolving the Kashmir dispute through dialogue although he conceded New Delhi was not yet ready to resume such talks. “On the Indian side, I was pleased that there was a solid commitment to dialogue,” he said.
“I would say that by the middle of the fall, if things go well across the Line of Control and we actually do see what President Musharraf is assuring us of, and if the election unfolds in a reasonable manner, then I think there is very good opportunity to really press for that dialogue to begin.
“The two parties will have to make that judgment, but I don’t think it’s as far off as it was, say a few weeks ago or a few months ago,” PTI quoted Powell as saying.
On their part, Pakistani officials had restated their recent policy of “cutting off support for raids by militants across the Line of Control” into Kashmir, Mr Powell said. “I was able to make sure that the commitment from the Pakistani side remained solid... To end cross-border infiltration.”
Indian officials said there was no proposal for an early resumption of talks between the two countries. However, some sources said there could be an opportunity for the foreign ministers of the two countries to meet in Kathmandu in the third week of August during a Saarc ministers’ meeting.
