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T V Parasuram in Washington
The United States on Tuesday offered to help India and Pakistan to start a dialogue process.
The two countries are committed to the campaign against terrorism, and both want a dialogue. But they are having "a little difficulty" getting it restarted, Secretary of State Colin Powell, who recently visited Islamabad and New Delhi, said.
During the talks with Indian and Pakistani leaders, Powell said, both sides expressed that they were "anxious to get the dialogue started. I will try to be helpful in that regard".
"I think they are both committed to the campaign against terrorism and I was pretty satisfied with the trip," Powell told reporters aboard his plane en route to Washington from Shanghai.
"Obviously, there is tension between India and Pakistan," he said.
At the same time, Powell said he thought both sides were realising, even though "this is a very difficult issue for them, they can't let it get out of control. The stakes are too high".
"Both sides are working with us on a future for Afghanistan, and they realise that for peace and stability in their part of the world, they've got to get this right," he said.
On the stability of Pakistan under President Pervez Musharraf, Powell said he found him to be "very much in charge".
"He has good support for the decisions that his government has taken but there is also discontent with respect to the military actions in Afghanistan. He had said several times during our press conference that he would like to see these actions to be as short as possible. So would we all," he said.
But Powell said it was more important to make sure that "we accomplish the mission, and he also understands that".
PTI
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