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Powell Visit to Address Kashmir Issue
ISLAMABAD, Oct 13 (News Agencies) - Pakistan said Saturday it wanted U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's upcoming visit to focus on the dispute with India over Kashmir, as well as the current situation in Afghanistan, news agencies reported.
Powell is expected in Pakistan and India early next week to shore up support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism and calm tensions between the South Asian nuclear rivals.
"This is a very important visit taking place at a very important juncture," Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Riaz Mohammad Khan told reporters, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
As well as the ongoing U.S.-led military campaign against Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, Khan said the visit should also focus on Indo-Pakistan relations and in particular the long-running dispute over Kashmir, which he described as a "dangerous source of conflict" in the region.
"This issue needs to be addressed and addressed meaningfully," Khan said.
India and Pakistan have found themselves unlikely allies in the international anti-terrorist alliance formed after the September 11th attacks in New York and Washington.
But both sides have peppered their expressions of support for the alliance with mutual accusations over divided Kashmir, where the conflict in the Indian-controlled zone has claimed more than 35,000 lives since 1989.
India says Muslim forces are "terrorists" sponsored by Pakistan, while Islamabad labels the insurgency a freedom struggle against Indian repression.
"There is another especially reprehensible form of terrorism which is state-sponsored terrorism," Khan said in clear reference to New Delhi's policy in the Himalayan region.
"Violence begets violence," he added.
Pakistan is keen on securing U.S. involvement in the search for a resolution of the Kashmir problem, which has sparked two wars with India since independence in 1947.
India, however, is bitterly opposed to any third party mediation, insisting that Kashmir is an integral part of its sovereign territory.
The sensitivity of the dispute means Powell will have to tread a delicate diplomatic line during his visit, but observers say Washington may take advantage of the post-September 11th scenario to push both India and Pakistan towards making concessions.
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