WASHINGTON, March 2: The United States will do all it can to broker dialogue between India and Pakistan, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in remarks released here on Saturday.

Powell praised both sides for standing down troops from a high state of alert.

“I also congratulate the leaders of the two countries for recognizing that it was more important to find a peaceful way forward and to begin a demobilization, which is well underway,” Powell said.

“I do understand, however, that there is a need for dialogue to take place between India and Pakistan on all of the outstanding issues between those two nations, and especially the issue of Kashmir.

“The United States will continue to do everything we can to get a dialogue started,” he said in the telephone interview conducted on Friday.—AFP