Colin Powell's visit is an attempt to ensure peace in the region, writes Rahul Bedi in Jammu, northern India.
The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, arrived in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, yesterday on the first leg of his south Asian tour to negotiate peace with neighbouring India, shortly before gunmen injured Pakistani security personnel in a shoot-out at Lahore international airport, 180 miles to the east.
Pakistan officials said the two men arrived at the main gate of the well-guarded airport, opened fire at the security personnel and fled after injuring five of them.
The attack came four days after Pakistan's President, Gen Pervez Musharraf, announced countrywide anti-terrorism measures, a crackdown on five Islamic sectarian and militant outfits, arrested nearly 2,000 terrorists and sealed hundreds of their offices.
Mr Powell, who is on his second visit to Islamabad in three months, is to hold talks with Gen Musharraf to try and ease military tension between nuclear rivals New Delhi and Islamabad. The first time Mr Powell came to Islamabad last October was to demand Pakistan's support for the global war against terrorism by providing the US with logistic and intelligence support to fight the Taliban regime in Afghanistan .
He is now seeking peace between the nuclear enemies whose armies are locked in a stand-off along their borders, following last month's attack on India's parliament, which Delhi blames on Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence. Mr Powell said he would press India and Pakistan to renew dialogue over the disputed northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. He said dialogue over Kashmir was more important to reducing tensions than troop withdrawals along the border that could follow. Mr Powell arrives in India today.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir besides an 11-week long border skirmish three years ago in which 1,200 soldiers died. India, meanwhile, reiterated that Gen Musharraf must show sincerity in his declared intent of renouncing terrorism as state policy, prevent infiltration across the line of control that divides Kashmir, and extradite 20 militants and criminals wanted by Delhi, before it pulls back its army.
In a nationwide televised address last week, Gen Musharraf refused to hand over the 20 on India's most wanted list, but announced a crackdown on two Kashmiri insurgent groups which India blames for last month's attack in Delhi.
Meanwhile, a fire broke out in the 16-storey state-owned Shaheed-e-Millat secretariat, located close to the presidential secretariat in Islamabad late on Tuesday night, reportedly destroying valuable records on Islamic militant groups.
The Nation, Pakistan's widely circulated English-language paper, said the Interior Ministry kept its confidential records of religious and militant organisations there. Files on the recently banned religious and jehadi (Muslim holy war) organisations were also stored there.
This is the second fire in recent months to have destroyed sensitive government records. Last October's fire burnt records at Pakistan's army headquarters relating to Islamabad's role in installing the Taliban in Kabul in 1996.
Indian Kashmir's chief minister said yesterday attacks from across the border with Pakistan had declined following a speech by Gen Musharraf, which India's hard-line home minister called "path-breaking"
"Yes, there is a notable difference. Attacks on the security forces and innocent people have decreased. The graph has gone down. This is a positive signal," Mr Farooq Abdullah, told a meeting in a village on the Kashmir border. "It is too early to say whether this will remain," Mr Abdullah added. - (AFP)