International Community Continues Efforts to DefuseTension Between India, Pakistan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 05, 2002

International Community Continues Efforts to DefuseTension Between India, Pakistan

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The international community is continuing its efforts to defuse tension between India and Pakistan as the two South Asian countries on Tuesday stressed thatthey were willing to ease tensions in the region through dialogue.

At the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), being held in Almaty, Kazakhstan,Chinese President Jiang Zemin urged parties involved in certain regional conflicts in Asia to seek peaceful settlement to their disputes, and called for solidarity and cooperation among all Asian countries.

China was echoed by Russia in the commitment to continuous efforts to ease tension in South Asia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan late Monday to help mediate in talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov last weekend discussed ways of containing the crisis in south Asia with United States Secretary of State Colin Powell, who was due to leave on Tuesday for meetings in Pakistan and India on June 6-7.

Meanwhile, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage pledged to "bring reason and logic" to bear in his peace mission to India and Pakistan, while warning of a possible nuclear war in the region.

Speaking at the first summit meeting of CICA, Musharraf urged India to return to the path of dialogue and negotiations.

Vajpayee said in his speech on Tuesday that his country is willing to discuss all issues with Pakistan. "As far as an India-Pakistan dialogue is concerned, ... we have repeatedly said that we are willing to discuss all issues with Pakistan."

Earlier on Monday, India demanded tangible evidence that violence was easing in Kashmir as a precondition for talks with Pakistan, but ruled out the use of nuclear weapons against the other in any conflict.

Vajpayee and Musharraf are in Kazakhstan to attend the CICA meeting on security. But observers said that there seemed little prospect they would meet to avert the threat of war.

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