New Delhi, January 17
The list of 20 terrorists and criminals India gave to Pakistan 18 days ago was the focus of one-on-one discussions the visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell had with his Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh.

Engaged in shuttle diplomacy, General Powell, who met Pakistani leaders in Islamabad yesterday, is understood to have discussed a formula to bridge the wide gap in perceptions of New Delhi and Islamabad on the issue of this list and ease the military stand-off between the two Asian powers.

Though the nitty-gritty of this formula would become clear in due course, it is understood that that there may be some give-and-take for both India and Pakistan. However, one thing that emerged clearly today was that Pakistan had asked for “more information” on this list of 20 which India would be sending soon.

An indication of the “frankness” of the Powell-Jaswant discussions came from the fact that General Powell, who reached here one hour behind schedule, revised his itinerary for the second time in as many days and extended his visit here by a couple of hours. A meeting with Leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi and a second joint press conference with Mr Jaswant Singh, which did not figure in the original schedule, were added to General Powell’s Friday’s itinerary.

Sources said General Powell’s formula to de-escalate the Indo-Pak stand-off pertained to the list of 20 terrorists which New Delhi was treating as the bottom line for action by Islamabad, while the Pakistanis have been harping on “lack of evidence”.

General Powell and Mr Jaswant Singh held a joint press conference at Hyderabad House after their talks and just before dinner in which General Powell reiterated his government’s position on several points as follows:

* That Washington had no intention of mediating between New Delhi and Pakistan and the issue of Kashmir has to be bilaterally resolved by the two countries themselves.

* That the USA was “anxious” to see a dialogue begin between India and Pakistan on all issues, including Kashmir.

* That Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had taken some steps though it was “perfectly understandable” for India to judge on the basis of measures taken by President Musharraf if they were sufficient to change Indian policies at the moment.

However, the only new point that emerged during the brief press conference was that Pakistan had asked for “more information” on the list of 20 and that India would be sending this information to Pakistan.

Islamabad, January 17
A day after holding talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said his government was keen to ease tension with India and emphasised that the crackdown against militant groups was not done at the behest of any other country.

Speaking to a delegation of local businessmen here, Musharraf said his government wanted to bring down tensions with India and de-escalate the tense stand-off at the borders.