The Hindu : Powell phones Jaswant

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 18, 2002

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Powell phones Jaswant

By Atul Aneja

NEW DELHI MAY 17. A day before the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the U.S. Ambassador to India, Robert Blackwill, met the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, today to discuss ways of defusing border tensions between India and Pakistan.

Concerned by the further deterioration of the relations between New Delhi and Islamabad after Tuesday's terrorist attack in Jammu, the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, also spoke to Mr. Singh on Thursday night.

While official sources acknowledged that the U.S. was sustaining its high-level diplomatic interaction with India, they pointed out that, as of now, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, might not visit India before June 15.

There was a flurry of activity prior to the CCS meeting, with the National Security Council today discussing threadbare the possible options available in the light of the terrorist attack near Jammu.

Besides the National Security Adviser, Brajesh Mishra, the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, the Chief of the Army Staff, S. Padmanabhan, and the Chief of the Air Staff, S. Krishnaswamy, participated in this meeting.

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