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'Friendly countries' must keep pledges: Powell

In a clear message to Pakistan, United States Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday night said 'friendly countries' must keep their pledges and that Jammu and Kashmir election should not be targeted by terrorists, while New Delhi ruled out early resumption of talks with Islamabad.

Powell, on his third visit to the region in 10 months, as part of a peace mission to de-escalate Indo-Pak tension, also gave enough indications on the importance attached by the US to ensure that J&K election are held without any interruption or terrorist violence.

After the conclusion of talks between the External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha and Powell, an external affairs ministry spokesperson told newsmen that Powell had stressed that 'the US is used to their friends keeping their pledges'.

Sinha said shortly before the parleys that there was no question of talks with Pakistan and that Islamabad has to do 'more' to lower tensions by ending cross-border terrorism.

Powell, who is leaving for Islamabad on Sunday, while talking to accompanying reporters had also referred to the J&K election and how the US planned to keep the momentum going with the 'coming down of tension significantly from a month ago'.

Terrorism Strikes in Jammu and Kashmir: The complete coverage

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