US not to play mediator between India, Pak

President George W Bush made this clear when he met PM Manmohan Singh at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.

The US, in a significant change of stand, has decided not to play the role of a mediator between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

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President George W Bush made this clear when he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi, according to informed sources.

The US is not interested in playing the role of a mediator in the dispute between India and Pakistan, Bush is believed to have said.

This is in sharp contrast to Pakistan's consistent efforts to seek American mediation in resolving the Kashmir dispute.

Musharraf, in an interview to the BBC two days ago, had urged President Bush to seize the opportunity of his visit to the subcontinent to help resolve the Kashmir row once and for all. He said he hoped Bush would lead a renewed push towards a solution.

"All that I expect is his weight, his voice pressurising all three groups -- me, Indians and Kashmiris -- to resolve the dispute now, because now is the ideal time, ideal environment to resolve it," Musharraf had said.

Bush told Manmohan Singh that he was very encouraged by the dialogue process between India and Pakistan and said the confidence building measures the two countries had put in place "was the way to go" on this issue that has bedevilled ties between the South Asian neighbours for nearly six decades.

Bush, in his speech at Asia Society and later talking to Indian and Pakistani journalists before leaving Washington, had said the US was in favour of a solution that is "acceptable to Indians, Pakistanis and the people of Kashmir".