US for Indo-Pak talks to end infiltration

NEW DELHI: The US would like to see dialogue between India and Pakistan taking place simultaneously with steps to end infiltration across the LoC, senior policy maker in the Bush Administration, Richard Haass, said here on Tuesday.
Haass, who is director, policy planning staff in the US State Department, met a number of senior ministers before moving on to Islamabad.
Though non-committal about the outcome of the Pakistani elections, Haass said that continuing infiltration across the LoC remained a cause of concern and would be taken up with Pakistan.
Saying that demobilisation of troops by India and Pakistan had provided some opportunities, Haass said this, along with elections in Kashmir and Pakistan, could provide breathing space to both parties.
Differences on issues need not prevent a dialogue he said, pointing to the fact that the US and the USSR had full diplomatic representation and other ties during the Cold War.
The bilateral relationship between India and Pakistan was less than optimal and it was diplomatically undesirable for the relationship to remain as thin as it was, Haass said, adding that the US wanted thickening of the relationship.
Saying that the relationship may not be necessarily "ripe" for a "top down solution", Haass said what could be looked for were "bottom up approaches".
This could be in the form of economic links, transport links, diplomatic links and cultural, sports and parliamentary exchanges. The modest aims were limited, at the moment to curbing infiltration and seeing a dialogue.
Haass also met with the Kashmir committee and Muslim leaders. He said his discussions with Muslim leaders was very encouraging as he found that the opportunities available to Muslims in a democratic polity ensured that they were not tempted to look for other opportunities or take recourse to terrorism.