Talks With U.S. to Focus on Kashmir

President Clinton agreed to meet in Washington with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today to discuss resolving the Asian nation’s increasingly “dangerous” conflict with India over long-disputed Kashmir, the White House said. Before agreeing to the meeting, Clinton conferred by telephone with Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, said a White House official who declined to be named. Officials said Sharif requested the meeting. The fighting in Kashmir--wholly claimed by both India and Pakistan--has raised fears of a wider conflict between the two rivals, which launched nuclear weapons tests last year.