Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today ruled out a meeting with Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of a conference in Kazakhstan, dealing a blow to efforts by world leaders to try to defuse tension between the two nuclear-ready rivals.
The nuclear-armed neighbours have about a million men facing each other across their Kashmir border, with the international community anxious to defuse the confrontation.
"There is no proposal for talks with Musharraf," Mr Vajpayee said shortly before flying off to Almaty, the commercial capital of Kazakhstan, where the 16-nation conference is due to be held tomorrow and Tuesday.
Later India's ambassador to Almaty there would be no talks "at any level" between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir crisis. He also said there would be no secret talks between the two talks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had been hoping to rope Mr Vajpayee and Gen Musharraf together for face-to-face talks on the fringes of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building measures in Asia.
Mr Vajpayee, who has extended his stay in Kazakhstan by a day to engage in bilaterals with Putin and Chinese President Jiang Zemin, offered a glimmer of hope, however.
India, he told reporters in New Delhi, would give "serious consideration" to talks with Pakistan in the future if there is any evidence backing up Gen Musharraf's claims to have clamped down on cross-border militancy in Kashmir.
Putin still intends to speak to the two men individually during the conference in the hope of finding common ground.
Gen Musharraf, who departed arrived in Dushanbe today, where he was to hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov ahead of the conference, left on a more conciliatory note, saying he was ready to meet the Indian prime minister and dismissing fears of a nuclear conflict in South Asia.
In an interview yesterday with CNN, Gen Musharraf said he did not believe either Pakistan or India was "irresponsible" enough to push the button.
In Singapore, Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes warned today that New Delhi faced "intense" pressure to launch an attack on "terrorists" in the disputed Kashmir region.
But Fernandes said that while India will continue its struggle against terrorism, it "will not be impulsive" in its dealings with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, families of UN staff will begin evacuating Pakistan and India today as fear of war between the nuclear-armed rivals mounted.
Westerners - including Irish nationals - have also been advised against travelling to the countries.
The diplomatic initiatives come amid continuing violence in Kashmir, where eight people have been killed and 48 others injured in separate grenade attacks and clashes since Friday.
Shelling between troops on either side continued today, with Indian police saying a Pakistani shell fell on a bus near a Kashmiri village west of winter capital Jammu, killing a woman and injuring six other people.
AFP