Powell to embark on eight-nation Asia tour
Powell to embark on eight-nation Asia tour
Agencies, Washington/Manila
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is to embark on a sweeping eight-nation tour of South and Southeast Asia this month to keep tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan on ice and bolster the U.S.-led war on terrorism, U.S. officials said on Friday.
Powell, to anchor the trip around his previously announced participation in the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum (ARF) in Brunei July 30 and 31, is to also visit India, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, they said.
Dates for each stop were not immediately available, but Powell is expected to depart Washington around July 25 or 26 and begin his swing across Asia in India and Pakistan, the officials told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Powell said earlier this week that he intended to travel to Islamabad and New Delhi to keep up the pace of the diplomatic drive to cool tensions between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.
He has visited both countries twice before.
The rest of the stops on the Southeast Asian itinerary will mark Powell's first visit to each of the countries as secretary of state.
Each plays a critical role in the Pacific front of the war on terrorism and the United States has sent troops to the Philippines to train the army there in counter-insurgency tactics.
The Philippines faces frequent attacks and kidnappings from the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, believed to have links with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Senior officials of the ARF also say in a draft statement that no decision is likely soon on Pakistan's application to join the 23-nation group, which meets in Brunei this month.
Foreign ministers will welcome "the current easing of tension between India and Pakistan," according to the statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan came to the brink of war over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir earlier this year.
They still have a million troops massed along their 2,900- kilometer (1,800 mile) border, although tensions have eased since last month after international peace efforts.
The forum comprises the Southeast Asian countries - Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - along with Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Russia, the United States and the European Union.