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US 'anxious' to get through Indo-Pak crisis

T V Parasuram in Washington

Reaffirming its desire to have a good relationship with both India and Pakistan, the United States has said it is 'anxious' to get through the current crisis and see a dialogue begin between the two South Asian neigbours on the Kashmir issue.

"It is a very difficult issue. And what we are trying to do now is to make sure that both the Indians and the Pakistanis understand that the United States is interested in them beyond this crisis. We want a good relationship with India on every aspect of that relationship, economic, trade cooperation, military cooperation. The same thing with Pakistan," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Tuesday.

"We are anxious to get through this crisis and see a dialogue begin between the two sides so that we can start to move forward to help find a solution to the problem in Kashmir ultimately," Powell said, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He said the US has worked 'very hard' to keep the Indo-Pak tension from 'blowing up or boiling over on us.

"And I spend an enormous amount of time on the telephone with the two sides, spoke to President (Pervez) Musharraf again yesterday (Monday), spoke to the new Indian Foreign Minister (Yashwant Sinha) on Sunday," he said.

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