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U.S. to Send Envoy to India, Pakistan
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| Indian army convoy heads towards Kashmir |
WASHINGTON,
May 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The U.S. State Department
will dispatch a senior official to Pakistan and India next week, as it
presses ahead to ease tensions between the two nuclear rivals over
Kashmir, officials said Friday, May 17.
Assistant
Secretary of State for South Asian affairs Christina Rocca will travel
to both countries for the latest of a series of meetings, amid U.S.
concerns that India and Pakistan's conflict could hamper its
anti-terror efforts.
Her
visit coincides with increasing U.S. anxiety over terrorism in
Pakistan, following the murders of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, the
wife and stepdaughter of a U.S. diplomat in a church bombing, and
Wednesday's bombing which targeted French nationals in Karachi.
State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the talks would focus on a
wide range of issues, and that the flashpoint issue of Kashmir would
come up.
There
were no immediate details of exactly when she would visit the two
countries.
Ahead
of Rocca's trip, Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday spoke to
both Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Foreign Minister
Jaswant Singh about the conflict over disputed Kashmir, Boucher said.
"The
Secretary called President Musharraf yesterday and Foreign Minister
Singh yesterday to talk about India-Pakistan issues, tensions along
the Line of Control and what we might be able to do, what they might
do, what we might help them do to defuse those tensions," said
Boucher.
Powell
mounted a personal mission late last year to defuse tensions between
the two South Asian rivals. Tensions skyrocketed after an attack on
India's parliament in December, which New Delhi blamed on
Pakistan-based militants.
India
accuses Pakistan of funding and arming a Muslim insurgency in
Indian-administered Kashmir. Pakistan denies the charge and says it
only extends moral and diplomatic support.
Pakistan
and India have fought two of their three wars over the region since
gaining independence from British rule in 1947.
Up
until the September 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, the
United States had been leaning closer towards India than its former
Cold War ally Pakistan.
But
after the assaults President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan emerged as a
key U.S. ally, as Washington targeted al-Qaeda members in Afghanistan
and their Taliban protectors.
Since Musharraf chose to side with the United States, relations
between the two nations have evolved considerably, as Washington has
sweetened its pressure for action against Muslim activists, with loan
guarantees and economic aid.
This
week saw the first meeting of the Joint Working Group On
Counterterrorism and Law Enforcement in Washington and on Friday
Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider met Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage.
Pakistani
officials said the Interior Minister's visit would focus on Pakistan's
efforts to prevent al-Qaeda and Taliban activists escaping from
Afghanistan across its rugged frontier.
The
United States has promised assistance for extra vigilance along the
border, where small numbers of U.S. troops are already helping
Pakistani forces track down suspected terrorist leaders.
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