BEIJING, Jan 3: US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan appealed on Thursday for a de-escalation in the tense stand-off between India and Pakistan, Chinese state media said.

In a telephonic conversation, Powell and Tang expressed the hope that the two South Asian nuclear neighbours would find a peaceful solution to their dispute, the Xinhua news agency reported.

“If the situation spins out of control and results in a major armed conflict, it will not only mean that both India and Pakistan will suffer,” Tang said, according to Xinhua.

“It will also impact the Afghan peace process and endanger stability and development in South Asia and Asia as a whole,” Tang was quoted by the agency as saying.

Powell told Tang the United States was trying to persuade India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid an escalation of the dispute, Xinhua said.

Powell said even though the circumstances were serious, efforts to defuse the tense situation through political and diplomatic means were making progress, according to Xinhua.

The conversation took place as Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was expected in China for a brief stopover for talks with his traditional Chinese ally ahead of a key South Asian summit in Nepal.

Foreign Minister Tang held separate telephone conversations with his counterparts in Pakistan and India on Monday, urging the two countries to seek a peaceful solution to their differences.—AFP