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US ambassador to Pak sees tension defusing soon

The US ambassador to Pakistan said in remarks published today that he hoped tension between India and Pakistan over Kashmir would defuse soon.

William B Milam told Pakistani newspapers that he believed that the situation in Kargil would improve before long but there was no such thing as a ''US-brokered time-frame.''

''We are hopeful that the situation will defuse and we would like to see not only the situation defused but would very much like to see the Lahore process revived because we believe this holds the key to an eventual resolution of problems in South Asia,'' Milam was quoted as saying by a daily.

Milam said he did not think there was a danger of the Kargil conflict turning into a wider war but said such a threat was always there.

''Because of the dangers of escalation into a more general war, we certainly hope it will defuse as soon as possible. We don't have any specific time-frame, however, but we do understand that situations like this take time. Moreover, when the two armies are talking on technical issues, the situation does not get controlled overnight,'' Milam said.

UNI

The Kargil Crisis

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