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India must exercise restraint: Powell
WASHINGTON, DEC. 16. The U.S. Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, today virtually asked India to desist from military action against terrorist camps across the border following the attack on the Parliament House and cautioned that tension in Indo-Pak. relations had the potential of ``becoming very dangerous''.
He told NBC television that India clearly had a legitimate right to self-defence ``but I think we have to be very careful on this because, if in the exercise of that right of self-defence, states are going to be at each other, it might create a much more difficult situation which could spiral out of control.''
Answering a question about India's threat to retaliate against Pakistan, Gen. Powell said ``it is important to note President Musharraf immediately condemned the attacks'' and said ``he is taking action against two organisations that have been tentatively identified as the ones which might have been responsible for this.''
The U.S., he said, was encouraging both countries to get into this campaign against terrorism but not escalate it to a level where it could get out of control. He said the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, had made it clear that he was allowing some time to get a reaction from the Pakistani Government. _ PTI
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