A senior US envoy told India today that Pakistan was committed to taking permanent action against Islamic militants, a pledge that could help draw the neighbors back from the brink of war.
Indian and Pakistani troops, artillery and mortars continued trading fire across the militarized Line of Control (LOC) that divides disputed Kashmir between the two countries, which have massed a million troops along their border.
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US Deputy Secretary of State, Mr Richard Armitage, in New Delhi after visiting Islamabad yesterday, said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had told him he was ready to do anything he could to avert a conflict with India.
"President Musharraf clearly told me he is intent on doing everything he can to avoid a war consistent with the honor and dignity of Pakistan," Mr Armitage told reporters after meeting Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Reinforcing his words, the State Department said it had detected a significant reduction in the number of infiltrations from Pakistani-controlled Kashmir into the Indian-controlled part of the territory.
"We have growing indications that infiltration across the Line of Control is down significantly," spokesman Mr Richard Boucher said in Washington.
Mr Armitage's mission, to be followed by a visit by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld next week, has raised hopes that both sides can be pulled back from the brink of a possible nuclear catastrophe through international diplomatic pressure.
Earlier, an Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said New Delhi hoped Pakistan would act on its pledges to curb Muslim militants over the next few days.
A spokeswoman said New Delhi had yet to see any sign of a fall in infiltration of militants in the past few days and India would remain 'cautious' while assessing Pakistan's actions against militants.
As artillery exchanges were traded across their frontier today, killing at least eight people, Indian forces and Muslim separatist rebels clashed in various parts of Indian-ruled Kashmir and nine people were killed, Indian police said.
Muslim separatist rebels have been battling Indian forces in the disputed region since 1989 and Indian officials say more than 33,000 people have been killed in the conflict.