Interview by John Leyne of the BBC

QUESTION: What steps do you understand are now being taken, particularly by India, to reduce the tension?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I think following the message which I carried from President Musharraf, our Indian friends have decided to reestablish the ability of Pakistani airlines to overfly, number one; number two, they've named a person to go back as High Commissioner to Islamabad; and I understand that they've given orders for their fleets to return south and there may be some other unspecified movement in the coming days.

QUESTION: What more would you like to happen from India at this stage, and also the time scale?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I think both sides have things to do to deescalate, so I wouldn't want to just talk about India. But I think the next move might usefully be aircraft moving back from a forward-deployed area. But I think Pakistan also has to have some de-escalatory measures as well, so I think we're in the midst of a bit of a dance, but right now tensions are down so things are going, I think, better than we could have hoped.

QUESTION: A bit of a dance? What do you mean by that?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, clearly there were actions both in India and Pakistan responding to the international cries for de-escalation, and there's a lot more de-escalation which needs to be done, and I think it will be over time as long as the international attention stays focused on the area.

QUESTION: An Indian minister said they're going to keep the troops up there up at the front line until October. Is that something that you're satisfied with, or would you like the troop movements on both sides much faster than that?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, obviously we'd like not to have the situation of almost a million men shouting, glaring and occasionally shooting at each other over a disputed territory. But the rationale, I think in the Indian minister's mind, has to do with elections which are going to occur in Jammu and Kashmir, as well as elections in Pakistan. And so I think I understand where they're coming from, but most of the international community would prefer as rapid a de-escalation as possible.

QUESTION: Are you satisfied that Pakistan is now doing everything it possibly can to stop infiltration across the line of control in Kashmir?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, we're satisfied that President Musharraf is a man of his word. We're satisfied that infiltrations are down, and I note with satisfaction that India has publicly said the same thing. And I think that President Musharraf and his colleagues are intent on doing what he has said, and that is to stop permanently the cross-LOC infiltrations.

QUESTION: You've talked about other measures unspecified that might be taken in coming days to reduce the tension. Is that a plan you've worked out with both sides?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: No, I have not worked out a specific plan, but we have discussed with both sides further measures. But there's no road map per se and I think each side will continue the discussions with the international community and make decisions hopefully to continue this de-escalatory trend.

QUESTION: What more can the Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld do when he gets there? It looks as if things are already on the right course. What can he add? You've only just come back yourself.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I very much hope that things are on the right course, but as I've said, there has to be a constant international vigilance to this question. And Mr. Rumsfeld I think will, first of all, stop in India. He'll have discussions with his Indian colleagues and get their views and carry them across to President Musharraf, who will have just returned from the UAE and from Saudi Arabia. And I suspect there will be other diplomatic visits in the weeks and months ahead.

QUESTION: I mean, is there something special Mr. Rumsfeld can give -- a military perspective? It was said, for example, that he was going to take with him a plan or an analysis of the effects of nuclear war. Is that in his suitcase?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, your very excellent Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has already done that. I had these discussions, and I'm sure Mr. Rumsfeld will continue to have these discussions with the Pakistanis and the Indians. Beyond that, you're correct, he is an expert on military affairs and would be able to talk much more competently than I about the military aspects of this crisis.

QUESTION: A lot of analysts have said if you can get through this crisis safely, and perhaps also this autumn's elections in both countries, it is actually a good time to launch a proper peace initiative. Is the United States thinking of really going beyond just this sort of band-aid diplomacy?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I don't think that the de-escalation that's involved in this present situation can be described as a band-aid. A week ago, the international community was frightened to death that we were on the verge of nuclear war, and it looks quite a bit better today. So I reject the notion of a band-aid.

To your question of the whole question of Kashmir and India and Pakistan and a peace arrangement, I would note that the Simla Agreement of 1972 made it very clear that Kashmir was a bilateral issue to be resolved between the two states concerned. But I think the specter of nuclear war which seems to have lessened in recent days has been so frightening and so riveting that the question of Kashmir is much higher on the international agenda than it had been heretofore.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, sum up how dangerous do you see the situation?

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Well, I think the immediate tensions have lessened, but as I've said, when you have a million men shouting, glaring and shooting across a disputed area which has been the subject of past wars, then you must consider that you've got a continuous and a continual dangerous situation. And the international community must stay engaged, and I notice a statement by Jack Straw today that seems to be the British Government is intent on staying engaged, and I can assure you, so too the United States.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, thanks very much indeed.

DEPUTY SECRETARY ARMITAGE: Thank you, Mr. Leyne.