NEPAL (voa) – Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee says war with nuclear rival Pakistan is not inevitable and the crisis could be solved through diplomacy.
Mr. Vajpayee spoke in Nepal ahead of a three-day regional summit opening there Friday. But he says he will not meet with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who arrives in Kathmandu later, until Islamabad ends what New Delhi calls cross-border terrorism.
General Musharraf says Pakistan wants a dialogue with India to end what is described as the largest military build-up in 15 years along the disputed India-Pakistan border. The Pakistani leader spoke Thursday during a visit to China ahead of the summit in Nepal.
The escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan follows a deadly December 13 attack on India’s parliament that New Delhi blames on two Pakistani-based militant groups.
Mr. Vajpayee says Pakistan must prove that it is serious about cracking down on terrorism.
Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh says India welcomes Pakistan’s recent arrest of the top leaders of the two groups India says were involved in the parliament attack. But Mr. Singh says Islamabad must take further actions against the groups.
Pakistan has also arrested 100 members of the groups, but rejected an Indian demand to arrest 20 additional suspects.
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says he is confident India and Pakistan will resolve the crisis peacefully and not go to war. But more attacks in Indian Kashmir by Muslim separatist militants are adding to the tensions. In the latest incidents, two Indian soldiers, one policeman and one civilian were killed in two separate attacks, since late Wednesday.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is preparing to visit India and Pakistan, possibly early next week, in an effort to reduce tensions between the two countries.
