Secretary of State Colin Powell promised Saturday to push for talks on disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan during his visit to the two countries this weekend, his third since October. But if he had a timetable in mind, he did not reveal it to reporters traveling on his plane on an eight-nation tour of Asia that took him to India Saturday ahead of Pakistan on Sunday.

He also kept details of incentives to himself, though he said he was keen to discuss trade and economic activities.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir lies at the core of a seven-month-long military standoff between the nuclear-armed neighbors. India blames Pakistan for stoking a rebellion in its only Muslim-majority state, Jammu and Kashmir.

"Ultimately, we have to get to dialogue or else we will just be stuck on a plateau, which would not serve our interests. We don't want to be back where we were a few months ago, a few months from now," Powell said before a refueling stop in Italy.

"I'm not expecting a breakthrough yet of the kind we saw a month or so ago. Breakthrough isn't the word. I just want to make sure we're not just stopped and I want to see what both sides might be willing to do to keep going down that escalatory ladder," he said.

But India said the atmosphere was not conducive for talks with Pakistan

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (L) addresses the media, while his Indian counterpart Yashwant Sinha looks on in New Delhi, July 27, 2002. Powell promised to push for talks on disputed Kashmir between India and Pakistan during his visit to the two countries this weekend, his third since October. (Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters)