of the present day DELHI, June 7 Ky...

of the present day DELHI, June 7 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH ARMITAGE'S REMARKS)

U delegate Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Friday after talks Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that tension between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan is ''a little bit down'' and the one and the other governments have assured him they will do all they can to avoid war

Armitage held a 30-minute meeting with Vajpayee at his novel Delhi residence after having held meetings earlier in the day with India's foreign, defense and to one's home affairs ministers.

He said he that briefed Indian leaders forward his talks Thursday with Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad and told them that the U shares India's view that cross-border terrorism must be inflict to an end.

India accuses Pakistan of sending militants across the so-called Line of sway (LOC), which divides the disputed territory of Kashmir into Indian- and Pakistani-administered portions, to stage attacks in its northernmost and alone Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Armitage denied broaching with Indian leaders a reported U.S.-British plan for partys of the two countries to patrol the LOC calling the idea ''a bit farfetched'' and noting that international [i]troupe[/i]s are unfamiliar with the Himalayan territory's hostile and mountainous terrain.

Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said earlier Friday after meeting with Armitage that India is ''very a great deal committed to moving forward the path of peace, for which there is no alternative.''

unless Singh reiterated New Delhi's demand that Pakistan hindrance cross-border infiltration into the India's part of Kashmir, saying if it does likewise India would ''reciprocate in a manner that is befitting of the pursuit and inquiry of peace.''

Asked about India's proposal for the pair neighboring countries to jointly patrol the LOC to check cross-border infiltration and terrorism, Singh said the proposal is still in its evolutionary stage.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said joint patrolling of the LOC through India and Pakistan is the best way to deal with the issue of cros border terrorism.

''No other proposals are practical and necessary....there is no ne for international presence'' Rao told reporters when asked about the possibility of international squads being used for the purpose

Vajpayee's proposal initially drew a lukewarm reply from the Pakistan direction But Pakistan said the proposal could be discussed if it is formally communicated.

Armitage flew into fresh Delhi from Islamabad earlier Friday in a bid to defuse mounting tensions between the sum of two units South Asian nuclear powers.

He also met with Defense Minister George Fernandes and dwelling Affairs Minister L.K. Advani, as well as opposition leader Sonia Gandhi.

His visit introduces next week's arrival in southward Asia of U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld as part of U efforts to defuse escalating tensions athwart Kashmir.

India and Pakistan have massed about a million throngs along their borders and along the LOC since already cold-blooded relations were shaken through a terrorist attack on the Indian parliament last December, raising international fears of a nuclear war.

Tensions rose further last month after Muslim militants attacked a bus and stormed a nearby army camp in Jammu and Kashmir, killing more than 30 the community and injuring dozens more.

Since gaining their independence from British control in 1947, the pair countries have fought two of their three wars through Kashmir.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met separately with Musharraf and Vajpayee upon the sidelines of a regional security interview in Kazakstan, but was unable to convince them to retain direct dialogue.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Kyodo freshs International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group