Don’t harp on K-word, US to Gen

The US today rebuffed Pakistan’s insistence on the ‘‘so-called core issue’’ of Kashmir in talks with India and made it clear that agenda of the dialogue between the two would include other issues as well. US Secretary of State Colin Powell, reviewing his talks with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, in a chat with correspondents aboard his plane en route to Kuwait, said ‘‘Musharraf had Kashmir uppermost in his mind, I told him that how pleased we were that it is a full agenda of items —eight different baskets of items’’.

Powell said he also discussed with Musharraf Indo-Pak dialogue. ‘‘We also covered the India-Pak dialogue. He is committed to it,’’ he said. In an interview earlier, Powell had resisted pressure to get any US commitment on Kashmir.