U.S. Secretary of State Cohn Powell on Wednesday night rejected a mediatory role for the United States in resolving disputes between India and Pakistan and said that he was carrying “some ideas” to New Delhi for initiating a dialogue between the two neighbours on several issues including Kashmir.
However, he made it clear that the immediate aim was de-escalation of political and military tensions.
After talks with Gen Pervez Musharraf on the first leg of his South Asian tour, Mr Powell was asked at a press conference whether he would recommend to India a plebiscite in Kashmir to resolve the issue in the fight of his statement earlier in the day that the problem could be resolved in accordance with the wishes of the people. “No, I was not suggesting anything specific,” he said.
In a subtle shift in the U.S. stand, he said, “Kashmir is a very difficult issue. The solution to the problem lies in a dialogue between India and Pakistan and in the course of the dialogue, there will be many issues that will be discussed.”
Mr Powell said when he met India's external affairs minister Jaswant Singh and other Indian leaders in New Delhi on Thursday, he would be reviewing the outstanding issues. “We have some ideas which we will share with them (India) before we share them with the world.”
Mr Powell said the U.S. would keep
its efforts on political track and see that both the rhetoric and diplomatic
and military tensions were reduced. Asked if the U.S. would act as a facilitator
of Indo-Pak talks, he said he would like to see that the two sides began
a dialogue. (PTI)