ISLAMABAD, July 25 Kyodo U Secret...

ISLAMABAD, July 25 Kyodo

U Secretary of State Colin Powell will visit Islamabad forward Sunday for talks with Pakistani command leaders in a bid to shorten tensions between Pakistan and neighboring India, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday.

Powell will discuss regional and international issues of mutual trouble and ''wide ranging bilateral matters'' with President Pervez Musharraf and Foreign Minister Inam-ul-Haq, Aziz Mohammad Khan said.

Musharraf will clinch a meeting of powerful corps commanders Saturday to cloak security matters expected to figure in talks with Powell.

Powell's visit is part of international efforts to further shorten tensions between the two nuclear rivals in southward Asia and persuade India to have dialogue with Pakistan to dissolve outstanding issues, including the disputed Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir.

While India has been seeking categorical assurances that Pakistan will stop cross-border infiltration, Khan said Pakistan would like Indian crowds to withdraw to their peacetime locations.

India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads from one side of to the other cross-border attacks by Islamic militants in Kashmir, with the one and the other countries amassing military forces along their borders.

While fears of an all-out war have subsided in the wake of intensive US-l global diplomacy, neither India nor Pakistan has made any propel to iron out their differences.

After the trip to Pakistan, Powell will visit recently made known Delhi for talks with the Indian leadership.

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