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Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
India on Monday told the visiting French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin that Indo-Pak tensions over Kashmir can only de-escalate if Pakistan ensures that there is no violence in the state, a top Ministry of External Affairs official said.
Villepin, who met Indian leaders including Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra, was 'politely' reminded by both that New Delhi could not lower its guard as Pakistan-inspired ultras murdered innocent people in the state in cold blood, the official pointed out.
He said that Mishra told the French foreign minister that the international community should first study the ground realities in J&K before demanding that 'free and fair' polls were held.
Both the Indian leaders, however, pointed out that journalists and visitors were free to visit J&K.
According to the official, both Advani and Mishra told Villepin that New Delhi, virtually under siege by the Pak-supported militants, would be ready to resume the dialogue with Islamabad over Kashmir if the violence and killings ceased.
However, they indicated that this remained a remote possibility with the Pakistani leadership blatantly refusing to discontinue its active support to the terrorists and infiltrators in J&K under the guise of 'extending succour to freedom fighters'.
"Our forces (at the Indo-Pak border) will not budge as long as Pakistan continues its destructive and disruptive activities. We have made this clear to various representatives from the international community, who want India and Pakistan to come to the negotiating table," the official quoted both Advani and Mishra as telling Villepin.
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