PARIS, May 31: In France’s continuing effort to mediate in the India-Pakistan conflict, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has been on the telephone with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, says Quai d’Orsay spokesman Francois Rivadeau.

Mr Rivadeau emphasised that the telephone conversation followed one made last weekend to Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, and that it was made “as part of our continuing contacts with India and Pakistan.

“The two ministers,” noted the spokesman, “evoked the present situation between New Delhi and Islamabad, and discussed the various efforts made by the international community to attempt to reduce tension (in the region).”

As for Mr de Villepin — who, said Mr Rivadeau, agreed to remain in close touch — “he appreciates the sense of responsibility demonstrated by India.”

The two telephone conversations, both initiated by France, come in the wake of the decision by President Jacques Chirac to step up France’s efforts at mediation in a part of the world where it has important strategic interests. They also mark an important change in French foreign policy which will now see diplomatically act on its own, when it feels that a go-it-alone role can prove more effective than the multilateral intervention offered by such bodies as the European Union.

As concerns Mr de Villepin’s conversation with Mr Sattar, the Quai d’Orsay reported earlier this week that the two men had “reviewed the situation in the region, notably following the two Pakistani missile tests” and had also discussed “the concrete gestures which could possibly help reduce tensions (with India).”

Mr de Villepin, according to the spokesman, “expressed his support for a continuing and reinforced engagement by Pakistan against terrorism.” Also, noted the spokesman, Mr de Villepin was planning to discuss the situation in Kashmir with a number of other European foreign ministers throughout the day yesterday.

Moreover, with regard to French relations with Pakistan, President Chirac is known to be playing on the new relationship that has been instilled between Paris and Islamabad since the May 8 terrorist attack on a busload of French naval employees that left eleven of them dead and more than twenty wounded. PARIS, May 31: In France’s continuing effort to mediate in the India-Pakistan conflict, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has been on the telephone with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, says Quai d’Orsay spokesman Francois Rivadeau.

Mr Rivadeau emphasised that the telephone conversation followed one made last weekend to Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, and that it was made “as part of our continuing contacts with India and Pakistan.

“The two ministers,” noted the spokesman, “evoked the present situation between New Delhi and Islamabad, and discussed the various efforts made by the international community to attempt to reduce tension (in the region).”

As for Mr de Villepin — who, said Mr Rivadeau, agreed to remain in close touch — “he appreciates the sense of responsibility demonstrated by India.”

The two telephone conversations, both initiated by France, come in the wake of the decision by President Jacques Chirac to step up France’s efforts at mediation in a part of the world where it has important strategic interests. They also mark an important change in French foreign policy which will now see diplomatically act on its own, when it feels that a go-it-alone role can prove more effective than the multilateral intervention offered by such bodies as the European Union.

As concerns Mr de Villepin’s conversation with Mr Sattar, the Quai d’Orsay reported earlier this week that the two men had “reviewed the situation in the region, notably following the two Pakistani missile tests” and had also discussed “the concrete gestures which could possibly help reduce tensions (with India).”

Mr de Villepin, according to the spokesman, “expressed his support for a continuing and reinforced engagement by Pakistan against terrorism.” Also, noted the spokesman, Mr de Villepin was planning to discuss the situation in Kashmir with a number of other European foreign ministers throughout the day yesterday.

Moreover, with regard to French relations with Pakistan, President Chirac is known to be playing on the new relationship that has been instilled between Paris and Islamabad since the May 8 terrorist attack on a busload of French naval employees that left eleven of them dead and more than twenty wounded.