NEW DELHI, India — Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday he believed tensions had eased considerably between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan and said Washington stood ready to help "its two friends."
Powell, who arrived in India on Thursday a day after a visit to Pakistan, said leaders in both the South Asian rivals had indicated they were open to dialogue to ease their monthlong standoff. The two nations have massed hundreds of thousands of troops on their border in their largest buildup since their 1971 war.
Only hours before Powell spoke, however, a bomb blast in a crowded market killed one and injured 15 others in the disputed Kashmir province, which has provoked two wars between India and Pakistan. Indian police blamed Islamic militants for the attack.
India demands Pakistan crack down on militant groups based on its soil and battling India's rule over two-thirds of Kashmir. Tensions have flared since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups and Pakistan's spy agency. Pakistan has denied involvement.
Powell met the Indian foreign minister, Jaswant Singh, and afterward told reporters that Washington stood ready to help talks between India and Pakistan but would not insist on a role.
"To the extent that we can help bring that dialogue out and to the extent that both sides ask us to assist in that dialogue, the United States is ready to assist its two friends," Powell said.
Before his arrival in India, Powell said the situation between India and Pakistan was calmer. "I don't think it's as dangerous as it was a weekend or two ago," he told CBS' "The Early Show."
He credited Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for cooling things down with a weekend speech that condemned terrorism and vowed to curb Islamic militants accused of attacks in India.
After meeting the Indian defense minister in Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he believes Musharraf "is moving within his government to take actions to follow up on the speech."
"I do not believe it is in either of their interests to stay for a long period in a state of high mobilization," Rumsfeld told reporters at a press conference with Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes. Rumsfeld said he was hopeful that "over the coming weeks or days we will see a relaxation of that tension and some dialogue take place."
Pakistani police have arrested nearly 2,000 suspected militants since Musharraf said in his speech Saturday that he would not allow militants to conduct terrorist acts in the name of Kashmir.
Musharraf banned the two groups India said was involved in the Parliament attack and three other including Islamic and Kashmiri groups.
On Thursday, police in Pakistan arrested scores of suspected militants in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and sealed dozens more offices of Islamic extremists elsewhere in the country.
India's Singh said he "welcomed" Musharraf's speech, but said New Delhi was still waiting for more concrete action on the ground.
"As soon as we see demonstrations of it on the ground, we will respond adequately and quickly," Singh said.
In Thursday's bomb blast, the explosive was planted just outside a crowded market in the heart of Jammu, the winter capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, said the state's police chief Ashok Kumar Suri. He said police suspected Islamic militants were behind the blast.
India accuses Pakistan of fighting a proxy war by funding and arming more than a dozen Islamic militant groups in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The 12-year insurgency has cost more than 32,000 lives.
India has demanded that Pakistan hand over 20 men accused of terrorist acts in India. Musharraf said he would never hand over Pakistanis, but left open the possibility that Indians on the list could be extradited.
Powell told reporters that India would provide Pakistan more evidence about the 20 men on the list. "The more evidence we can provide, the better," Powell said.
On Friday, Powell will meet with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his national security adviser before heading to Nepal.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also made recent visits to Pakistan and India, and the White House said he spoke to President Bush by telephone on Thursday to brief him on the trip.
Earlier Thursday, Powell visited Afghanistan the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Kabul since Henry Kissinger in 1976 and pledged support for the post-Taliban administration there and its efforts to rebuild.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.