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Pallone praises US restraint on Kashmir

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone has urged fellow lawmakers not to support efforts to establish a US or international mediation role in the Kashmir conflict.

Speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, he said, ''Thus far, the Clinton administration has wisely resisted Pakistani attempts to internationalise the Kashmir conflict, and certainly that was the case after the last conflict where President Clinton specifically said that he was not going to act as a mediator and that the two nations basically had to sit down together and work out their differences.''

''It is important for members of Congress to encourage the administration to maintain its current prudent approach,'' he added.

Pallone said, ''I believe President Clinton's July 4 meeting with Prime Minister Sharief of Pakistan succeeded in bringing about a Pakistani withdrawal of troops from India's side of the Line of Control. I welcome that.''

On the eve of a scheduled House-Senate conference on the fiscal year 2000 foreign operations appropriations bill, Pallone called for the removal of a provision in the Senate version of the bill singling out India as one of a handful of nations that would have to receive Congressional approval before the allocation of foreign aid.

Pallone cited the recent US intelligence report of Pakistani receipt of M-11 ballistic missiles from China as a strong reason for not repealing the Pressler Amendment which seeks to ban American military and economic aid to Pakistan in protest against its nuclear weapons programme.

UNI

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