12 June 2004	Saturday	23 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

WASHINGTON, June 11: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that cross-border attacks in Kashmir have gone down but the infrastructure that supports such attacks is still there.

Talking to reporters after his meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh on Thursday evening Mr Powell said the United Sates wants to build an even stronger relationship with India's new government.

Disagreeing with the observation that attacks across the Line of Control had continued unabated, Mr Powell said: We have seen that the rate has gone down and we continue to monitor that rate.

The United States, he said, also has continued to express our concern about the infrastructure that remains behind. Mr Powell rejected the speculation that the election of a new government in India could affect Washington's relations with New Delhi.

He predicted that there will be a warm, productive relationship with the new government which will move us forward and to build an even stronger relationship with India. Later, Mr Singh indicated that India may reconsider its earlier decision of not sending troops to Iraq but he said so far the United States has not asked for troops.