WASHINGTON, Aug 31: The United States has said it retains confidence in President Pervez Musharraf’s ability to curb infiltration of Islamic militants into Indian-occupied Kashmir, despite new violence in the divided region.

It has also expressed the view that successful state elections planned in the scenic Himalayan region for September and October could pave the way for a resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan.

“Well, we do believe that President Musharraf is a man of his word and we’re going to treat him as such and treat his word with all the care which it deserves,” said US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, appearing late Friday on PBS’s ‘NewsHour with Jim Lehrer’ programme.

He added, however, that only Musharraf and his close associates knew for sure what was being done to halt infiltration of Islamic separatists into the “Indian-controlled” part of Kashmir, an area over which India and Pakistan have fought two out of the three wars they have fought since 1947.

The comments came after Armitage returned here from a tour of Asia, during which he visited Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, China and Japan.

Much of the mission was focused on lowering tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, which have ebbed and flowed since June, when the two armies came eyeball to eyeball over Kashmir.

Both countries have amassed an estimated one million troops along their shared frontier.

India accuses Pakistan of arming, funding and training Islamic militants battling New Delhi’s rule in Indian-occupied Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies.

Armitage acknowledged that incidents of violence were “on the upswing” in the region but expressed doubt as to whether Pakistan had the ability to establish an airtight security zone along the Line of Control.

He said that during his most recent talks with Musharraf, the Pakistan President reiterated his pledge to curb the infiltrations.

“I’d say that we believe that President Musharraf is exerting efforts to cease Pakistan support for cross-border Jihadists,” said the deputy secretary of state, referring to militants involved in what they call a “holy war” against India.

“I am saying, however, that there are Jihadists that are outside the control of all Pakistani authority,” Armitage added. “There are also Jihadists that were already existent in Kashmir. They didn’t need to cross the Line of Control to cause trouble.”

The staggered election to the occupied Kashmir assembly is facing a boycott from supporters of the region’s independence or its association with Pakistan.

But Armitage made clear a resumption of talks between India and Pakistan might ride on whether the vote was allowed to take place without incident.

“And perhaps if those elections can proceed relatively free of violence, then there can be some sort of dialogue,” he said.

The deputy secretary of state said both Indian and Pakistani officials valued US efforts aimed at lowering regional tensions and hoped they would continue.—AFP