OTTAWA, Sept 20: Canada’s foreign minister said on Friday he had urged India to establish some kind of dialogue with Pakistan to prevent tensions over the disputed region of Kashmir from erupting into an all-out war.

Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham, speaking after a Thursday meeting with Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha, said he had expressed concern about the potential for conflict between the two neighbours.

“We are arguing with them (the Indians) that dialogue can never hurt and ‘Don’t stop talking’ because when you stop talking ultimately the chances of something going wrong are really there because as we know there are an enormous number of troops massed on both sides of the frontier,” Graham said in a conference call with reporters.

“So while we say it’s less tense than it was earlier in the year the potential for a misstep somewhere which will get the tensions back up (is) horrendous.”

Canada — home to one million Canadians of ethnic Indian descent — tends to be more sympathetic to India and Graham said Pakistan had to live up to a commitment by President Pervez Musharraf to stop the incursions.

“What we’re doing as a country is saying to Pakistan: ‘There are still questions as to whether or not you are living up to your commitment...and we’ll keep holding you to that,” Graham said.

Tension in Indian Kashmir is mounting ahead of the second stage of a state poll which New Delhi hopes will bolster its rule in the area. More than 460 people have been killed since the election was announced on Aug 2. —Reuters